THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 


THE    MENTAL    SURVEY 


BY 

RUDOLF  PINTNER 

i| 

PBOFESSOB  OF  PSYCHOLOGY,   OHIO  STATE  UNIVEBSIT7 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

1918 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BT 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


PREFACE 

I  HAVE  attempted  to  develop  a  method  of  tests  for  group 
purposes,  in  order  to  measure  roughly  the  intelligence  of 
large  groups  of  children.  The  work  began  owing  to  the 
practical  problem  of  finding  the  number  of  feeble-minded 
in  a  school  or  institution.  To  avoid  needless  testing  of 
perfectly  normal  children  some  rough  preliminary  tests 
were  made.  The  tests  I  turned  to  were  those  which  had 
been  fairly  well  standardized  at  the  time,  and  that  is  the 
explanation  of  the  tests  I  am  presenting  here.  No  claim 
is  made  that  they  are  the  best  tests  for  such  purposes. 
Doubtless  better  groups  of  tests  will  be  devised  in  the 
future. 

The  application  of  the  mental  survey  to  schools  and  the 
evaluation  of  school  achievement  in  terms  of  mentality, 
is,  I  believe,  the  most  important  aspect  of  the  present  study. 

The  book  is  divided  into  two  parts.  The  first  describes 
the  method  of  standardization  and  gives  some  results.  The 
second  part  is  a  guide  for  the  use  of  the  tests  and  has  been 
written  as  clearly  and  simply  as  possible,  so  that  the  worker 
may  follow,  step  by  step,  the  procedure  in  giving,  scoring 
and  evaluating  the  tests. 

The  material  required  for  the  survey  tests  is  the  standard 
material  supplied  by  the  C.  H.  Stoelting  Company  of  Chi- 
cago. I  have  given  illustrations  of  the  test  blanks  used, 
with  measurements  of  the  size  of  the  test  sheets,  so  that 
those  who  may  wish  to  print  their  own  test  blanks  may 
do  so. 

In  the  collection  of  the  data  for  this  book  I  am  indebted 
to  many  people  for  their  help  and  cooperation.  I  wish  to 


4  1  t  94  . 


vi  PREFACE 

thank  the  principals  and  teachers  of  the  schools  in  which 
the  surveys  were  made,  for  their  courtesy  and  their  willing- 
ness to  make  out  the  lists  of  pupils  according  to  their  esti- 
mates of  intelligence.  I  wish  also  to  thank  my  advanced 
students  for  their  assistance  in  conducting  the  surveys.  I 
wish  further  to  thank  Mr.  C.  0.  Edington  for  the  data 
obtained  from  the  rural  schools,  and  Mr.  D.  G.  Paterson  for 
allowing  me  to  add  to  my  norms  the  results  obtained  by 
him  from  about  three  hundred  children.  To  Miss  Lucille 
Boylan  I  am  indebted  for  the  tests  given  at  Vineland, 
and  I  wish  here  to  thank  her  and  the  Psychological  De- 
partment at  the  Training  School  for  their  cooperation. 

RUDOLF  PINTNER. 
Columbus,  Ohio 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    INTRODUCTION 3 


PART  I 
THE  TESTS  AND  THEIR  STANDARDIZATION 

II.     THE  TESTS 13 

III.  THE  COMPUTATION  OF  THE  RESULTS        .        •        .      28 

IV.  SURVEYS  OF  SCHOOLS        .        .        .        .        •        .40 
V.     THE  SURVEY  TESTS  AND  OTHER  ESTIMATES  OF  IN- 
TELLIGENCE      51 

VI.    EDUCATIONAL  ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  MENTAL  ABIL- 
ITY          64 

PART  II 
A  GUIDE  FOR  THE  USE  OF  THE  SURVEY  TESTS 

VII.    GIVING  THE  TESTS 81 

VIII.     SCORING  THE  TESTS  ....        .        .        •  91 

IX.    EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS 99 

INDEX                                 115 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTEATIONS 


PAGE 


1.  The  Digit-Symbol   Test 16 

2.  The  Symbol-Digit   Test 18 

3.  The  Word  Building  Test        .        .        .        .        .        .21 

4.  The  Opposites  Test 24 

5.  The  Cancellation   Test 25 

6.  Mental  Indices  bv  Grades 42 


THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 


CHAPTEE  I 
INTRODUCTION 

THE  measurement  of  the  mentality  of  individu- 
als is  now  so  customary  and  so  well  established,  that 
the  time  seems  ripe  to  extend  the  field  of  mental 
measurement  to  groups.  The  mental  examination 
of  an  individual  takes  at  least  thirty  minutes  and 
often  an  hour  or  longer.  This  makes  the  measure- 
ment of  large  numbers  an  exceedingly  slow  and  la- 
borious procedure.  By  the  individual  method  a 
survey  of  all  the  children  in  an  institution  or  in  a 
school  system  is  practically  impossible.  For  this 
reason  it  would  seem  desirable  to  have  survey  tests 
whereby  large  numbers  may  be  tested  at  the  same 
time.  In  doing  this  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  we 
are  sacrificing  an  accurate  diagnosis  of  the  individ- 
ual for  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  mentality  of 
the  group. 

Granted  that  this  is  feasible,  it  will  be  obvious  at 
once  that  the  mental  survey  may  be  put  to  good  use 
in  many  ways.  There  are  at  least  three  different 
fields  in  which  survey  tests  would  seem  to  be  of  dis- 
tinct value,  namely,  (1)  surveys  for  estimating 

3] 


.  .MENTAL  SURVEY 


feeblemindedness;  (2)  educational  surveys;  (3)  so- 
cial surveys. 

1.  Surveys  for  Estimating  Feeblemindedness. — 
Here  the  survey  tests  will  be  used  for  purposes  of 
preliminary  classification  of  the  inmates  of  an  in- 
stitution. After  such  preliminary  classification 
more  intensive  investigation  of  any  particular  group 
in  the  institution  may  be  undertaken  by  individual 
tests.  Since  the  problem  is  to  select  the  feeble- 
minded cases,  the  investigator  will  begin  with  those 
who  made  the  poorest  score  on  the  survey  tests  and 
work  upwards.1  Whether  it  is  possible  to  diagnose 
feeblemindedness  by  means  of  survey  tests  alone 
will  be  discussed  later. 

A  need  for  survey  tests  of  this  nature  has  been 
felt  by  investigators  in  state  surveys  of  feeblemind- 
edness. In  such  surveys  the  inmates  of  all  the  char- 
itable and  correctional  institutions  can  rarely  be 
tested  individually,  and,  therefore,  the  investigator 
is  forced  to  give  a  rough  guess  at  the  number  of 
feebleminded  or  be  content  with  individual  tests  of 
a  few  inmates  from  which  he  may  draw  conclusions 
as  to  the  mentality  of  the  remainder.  If  standard- 
ized survey  tests  are  available,  the  individuals  re- 

1  Pintner,  R.,  "The  Mentality  of  the  Dependent  Child,  Together 
with  a  Plan  for  a  Mental  Survey  of  an  Institution."  Jour.  of. 
Ed.  Psych.,  Vol.  VIII,  3  (1917),  220-238. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

quiring  special  examination  can  be  selected  at  once, 
and  with  much  greater  accuracy. 

2.  Educational  Surveys. — A  second  use  of  these 
survey  tests  consists  in  the  classification  of  schools 
according  to  their  mentality.    Up  to  the  present 
time  this  has  never  been  attempted,  but  there  can 
be  no  doubt  of  the  desirability  of  such  classification. 
That  children  in  different  schools  differ  in  their  men- 
tality is  very  obvious,  and  it  would  be  very  desir- 
able to  measure  this  difference,  so  that  the  educa- 
tional work  performed  by  a  school  could  be  evalu- 
ated in  terms  of  the  mentality  of  the  children  at- 
tending the  school.    If  children  in  school  A  possess 
better  mentality  than  children  in  school  B,  then 
school  A  ought  to  be  doing  better  educational  work 
than  school  B.    An  attempt  to  demonstrate  how 
this  can  be  done  is  shown  in  Chapter  VI. 

This  use  of  mental  tests  is  bound  to  be  of  the 
greatest  significance  in  the  future.  Mental  tests 
and  educational  measurements  have  been  develop- 
ing side  by  side  and  the  method  here  advocated  will 
prove  to  be  the  necessary  link  to  connect  the  two 
and  make  the  work  of  both  of  much  greater  signifi- 
cance. We  must  evaluate  the  results  of  our  educa- 
tional tests  in  terms  of  mentality. 

3.  Social  Surveys.— A  third  use  of  survey  tests 
is  their  use  in  connection  with  social  surveys.    A 
measure  of  the  mentality  of  the  community,  how- 


6  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

ever  rough  this  may  be,  cannot  but  be  a  distinct  as- 
set to  a  social  survey.  For  the  present  it  would 
appear  that  we  must  estimate  the  mentality  of  a 
community  from  the  mentality  of  its  school  popula- 
tion. That  the  mentality  of  the  children  in  school 
will  correspond  closely  to  the  mentality  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  whole  is  a  justifiable  inference.  Hav- 
ing obtained  in  this  way  a  rough  measure  of  the 
mentality  of  a  community,  it  is  bound  to  be  of  de- 
cided help  in  interpreting  the  conditions  brought  to 
light  by  the  social  survey.  So  far  as  the  writer 
knows  this  has  not  yet  been  attempted.2 

These  three  uses  to  which  survey  tests  may  be 
put,  namely,  in  the  institution,  the  sjchool  and  the 
community,  indicate  a  very  wide  field  for  this  type  of 
test  if  it  proves  to  be  at  all  feasible.  The  very  na- 
ture of  the  work  prescribes  the  type  of  test  and  the 
method  of  application.  The  individual  scale  with 
its  long  series  of  tests  is  at  once  seen  to  be  imprac- 
ticable. Survey  tests  must  be  such  as  can  be  given 
to  large  groups  at  the  same  time  and  this  neces- 
sarily involves  writing  on  the  part  of  the  subject  in 

2  An  example  of  how  this  may  be  done  has  been  indicated  by 
the  writer  in  a  rough  test  of  a  small  village  community.  Pintner, 
R.,  "A  Mental  Survey  of  the  School  Population  of  a  Village," 
School  and  Society,  Vol.  V  (May  19,  1917),  597-600.  See  also, 
Paterson,  D.  G.,  "A  Mental  Survey  of  the  School  Population  of  a 
Kansas  Town,"  School  and  Society,  Vol.  VII  (Jan.  19,  1918), 
84-89. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

some  form  or  other.  The  number  of  tests  that  may 
be  given  is  limited  by  the  length  of  time  during 
which  the  attention  and  interest  of  a  group  can  be 
held.  It  would  not  seem  desirable  to  allow  the  ex- 
amination to  extend  over  a  longer  period  than  two 
hours  and  preferably  not  so  long.  Generally  this 
is  longer  than  the  ordinary  individual  examination, 
but  in  giving  group  tests  a  certain  period  of  the 
time  is  consumed  by  the  distribution  and  collection 
of  test  blanks  and  by  the  instructions  of  the  exam- 
iner. This  serves  to  break  up  the  period  and  allows 
a  certain  amount  of  relaxation. 

In  all  the  work  that  follows  it  must  be  constantly 
borne  in  mind  that  the  results  of  a  few  survey  tests 
can  never  give  as  accurate  an  estimate  of  the  men- 
tality of  an  individual  as  the  results  obtained  from 
a  standard  scale  for  individual  measurement,  such 
as  the  Binet  or  the  Yerkes  Scales. 

There  are  a  great  many  sources  of  error  that  en- 
ter into  the  examination  of  a  group  of  individuals, 
so  that  we  are  never  justified  in  considering  the  re- 
sult of  a  series  of  survey  tests  as  being  an  accurate 
measure  of  an  individual's  mentality.  The  exam- 
iner can  never  be  certain  of  the  undivided  attention 
of  all  the  individuals  in  the  group,  as  he  can  make 
certain  of  the  undivided  attention  of  the  single  ex- 
aminee. Physical  discomfort,  illness,  laziness,  bad 
temper,  or  fear  may  exist  in  a  member  of  the  group 


8  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

and  remain  undetected,  and  in  so  far  as  such  dis- 
tractions from  efficient  mental  work  exist,  survey 
tests  fail  to  measure  accurately  mental  ability. 
Again  chances  of  copying  from  other  individuals  in 
the  group,  or  working  after  the  signal  to  stop  has 
been  given  cannot  always  be  detected.  So  we  may 
have  some  individuals  doing  poorer  than  their  men- 
tality warrants  and  other  individuals  doing  better 
than  their  mentality  warrants.  With  large  numbers 
these  two  sources  of  error  may  to  some  extent  coun- 
terbalance each  other.  It  would  seem  to  the  writer 
from  actual  observation  that  on  the  whole  these  dis- 
tractions do  not  often  occur  and,  if  they  do,  they 
affect  such  a  small  number  of  the  group  as  not  ma- 
terially to  affect  the  measurement  of  the  mentality 
of  the  group  as  a  whole.  Survey  tests  are  not  in- 
tended for  accurate  individual  estimates  of  intelli- 
gence, but  rather  for  rough  measurements  of  the 
mentality  of  groups. 

The  discussion  of  the  survey  tests  which  follows 
is  divided  into  two  parts. 

Part  I  describes  the  tests,  omitting,  however,  all 
reference  to  procedure  and  scoring.  It  further 
gives  an  account  of  the  standardization  of  the  tests 
and  the  results  of  some  schools  and  groups  of  in- 
dividuals tested.  It  further  attempts  to  show  the 
method  of  evaluating  the  educational  achievement 


INTRODUCTION  9 

of  schools  in  terms  of  the  mentality  of  the  schools 
as  determined  by  the  survey  tests. 

Part  II  is  a  guide  for  the  use  of  the  tests.  Here 
we  have  attempted  to  describe  the  procedure  in  the 
order  required  by  the  worker  making  the  survey, 
namely,  method  of  giving  the  tests,  scoring,  evalu- 
ating the  results.  In  this  part  will  be  found  all 
the  tables  of  norms  that  the  worker  will  require. 


PART  I 
THE  TESTS  AND  THEIE  STANDARDIZATION 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TESTS 

THIS  chapter  contains  a  description  of  the  tests 
used  together  with  a  brief  account  of  the  work  of 
others  with  the  same  tests. 

TEST  I    EOTE  MEMOKY  TEST 

This  test  is  one  of  immediate  memory  for  serial 
impressions.  The  presentation  is  auditory  and  the 
response  is  made  in  writing.  The  words  used  and 
the  procedure  followed  are  given  in  Part  II  of  this 
book.  The  words  chosen  are  those  used  by  Pyle.3 
Only  the  first  list  of  concrete  words  has  been  used. 
The  same  method  of  scoring  has  been  adopted  and 
this  allows  a  comparison  of  Pyle's  average  score  at 
each  age  with  the  median  score  at  each  age  ob- 
tained by  the  writer.  It  will  be  noted  that  Pyle 
keeps  the  results  for  the  two  sexes  apart,  giving 
averages  at  each  age  for  boys  and  for  girls.  In  the 
present  work  this  has  not  been  done  because  sex 
differences  in  these  tests  are  too  slight  to  justify 

3  Pyle,  W.  H.,  "The  Examination  of  School  Children"  (Mac- 
mfflan,  1913). 

13 


14  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

separate  norms   for  boys   and   girls.     It   seemed, 
therefore,  better  to  mass  all  the  results  together. 

No.  of 
Age  8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  Ad.  Case8 

Boys,  Av 31  32  36  38  38  38  40  40  43  46  49  44 

Pyle 990 

Girls,  Av 33     33     40     38     39     40     44     42     43     41     52     48 

Pintner,  Med 25     31     34     38     41     43     44     43     45     . .      . .     56    3,392 

Pyle's  norms  for  the  younger  ages  are  much 
higher  than  ours,  suggesting  a  rather  more  select 
group  of  eight-,  nine-,  and  ten-year-olds.  The 
eight-year-olds  are  probably  the  brighter,  more  ac- 
celerated children  in  the  higher  classes.  Our  medi- 
ans show  a  more  uniform  tendency  to  increase  from 
age  to  age.  No  other  work  with  exactly  the  same 
list  of  words  as  used  by  Pyle  is  known  to  the  writer, 
although  tests  of  rote  memory  with  very  similar 
lists  are  numerous,  and  for  these  the  reader  must 
be  referred  to  Whipple.4 

TEST  II    DIGIT- SYMBOL  TEST 

This  is  one  of  the  group  of  tests  called  "substi- 
tution tests. "  Like  all  of  this  class  of  tests  it  is 
essentially  a  learning  test.  It  measures  the  rapid- 
ity with  which  new  associations  can  be  built  up.  The 
subject  copies  symbols  which  correspond  to  the 
nine  digits,  the  symbols  and  digits  being  before  him 

4  Whipple,  G.  M.,  "Manual  of  Mental  and  Physical  Tests," 
Part  II;  p.  150  et  seq. 


THE  TESTS  15 

all  the  time,  that  is,  he  substitutes  one  thing  for  an- 
other. Because  the  key  is  always  in  front  of  him, 
he  is  not  compelled  to  memorize  the  symbols  before 
starting  to  work  nor  to  rely  upon  his  memory  dur- 
ing the  work.  He  is,  in  fact,  told  to  start  copying  at 
once  and  is  not  allowed  to  waste  time  trying  to 
memorize.  The  quicker  he  is  able  to  form  the  as- 
sociations between  the  symbols  and  digits,  the  less 
often  will  he  be  required  to  glance  up  at  the  key  and 
therefore  the  quicker  he  will  be  able  to  work.  The 
test  is  evidently  testing  something  that  is  funda- 
mental in  all  learning,  i.  e.,  the  ability  to  form  new 
associations.  A  picture  of  the  test  is  shown  in 
Figure  1.  This  picture  is  a  reproduction  of  the 
blank  used.  The  actual  measurements  of  the  blank, 
excluding  the  white  inargin,  are  5%  x  9%  inches. 

Work  with  this  test  has  been  reported  by  Whip- 
pie  and  by  Pyle.5  Pintner  and  Paterson  have  used 
this  test  extensively  with  deaf 6  subjects.  Our  best 
comparison  is  again  with  the  norms  obtained  by 
Pyle. 

Here  again  our  norms  increase  more  uniformly 

5  Whipple,  G.  M.,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  II,  133  et  seq. 

Pyle,  W.  H.,  "The  Examination  of  School  Children";  and  "The 
Mind  of  the  Negro  Child,"  School  and  Society,  Vol.  I  (1915), 
357. 

6  Pintner,  R.,  and  Paterson,  D.  G.,  "Learning  Tests  with  Deaf 
Children,"  Psych.  Eeview  Monographs,  Vol.  XX,  whole  No.  88 
(Feb.,  1916). 


84,976 

27,516 

79,821 

33.821 

63,442 

97,473 

21,629 

62,978 

57,183 

31,542 

32,761 

17,143 

95,146 

26,981 

28,349 

35,724 

73,862 

16.315 

91,563 

14.923 

37,628 

34.762 

42,916 

28.543 

23,729 

83.936 

85,652 

75.314 

35,486 

56,283 

29.635 

19,175 

72,518 

36,293 

24.631 

85.746 

19352 

15,283 

76,431 

24,976 

FIGURE  1. 


THE  DIGIT-SYMBOL 
16 


TEST. 


THE  TESTS  17 

No.  of 
Age  8      9      10     11     12     13     14     15     16     17     18   Ad.  Cases 

Boys,  Av 10     13     15     16     19     23     21     25     25     24     29     29 

Pyle 1,124 

Girls,  Av 13  16  19  19  23  23  27  27  28  29  26  32 

Pintner,  Med 7  11  14  16  18  21  24  25  25  . .   . .   30  3,609 

from  age  to  age  than  do  the  norms  of  Pyle.  Our 
norms  at  every  age  are  lower  than  Pyle's,  decidedly 
so  at  ages  eight  and  nine.  Again  there  is  the  sug- 
gestion of  a  more  select  group  of  younger  children 
in  Pyle's  standardization. 

TEST  III    SYMBOL-DIGIT  TEST 

This  test  is  of  the  same  type  as  the  Digit-Symbol 
Test,  only  in  this  case  the  subject  inserts  the  digits 
instead  of  the  symbols  as  in  the  previous  case.  A 
picture  of  the  test  is  shown  in  Figure  2.  This  pic- 
ture is  a  direct  reproduction  of  the  blank  used  by 
us.  The  actual  measurements  are  7%  x  9%  inches. 
It  will  be  noted  on  the  picture  that  the  asterisk  is 
not  clearly  printed  the  first  few  times  that  it  ap- 
pears. This  is  also  true  of  the  printing  on  the  ac- 
tual blanks  used,  due  to  a  slight  defect  of  the  cut 
from  which  the  blanks  were  printed.  No  explana- 
tions were  given  to  the  children  about  this  defective 
printing  and  they  were  left  to  their  own  devices  in 
regard  to  it.  If  the  child  omitted  to  insert  the  digit 
' '  2  "  in  the  first  space  and  by  so  doing  misplaced  the 
next  four  digits  only  one  error  was  counted.  This 


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n  •+-  >   •  v 

I  »<   D   V     / 

<  /    3    11 

FIGURE  2.    THE  SYMBOL-DIGIT  TEST. 


18 


THE  TESTS  19 

will  become  clearer  from  a  discussion  of  the  method 
of  scoring  in  Part  II  of  this  book. 

Eesults  with  this  test  have  been  reported  by 
Pyle  7  for  school  children,  and  by  Pintner  and  Pat- 
erson  8  for  deaf  children.  Our  best  comparison  is 
again  with  the  results  of  Pyle : — 

No.  of 
Age  8       9      10     11     12     13     14     15     16     17     18   Ad.  Cases 

Boys,  Av 10     13     17     18     19     21     23     26     28     26     28     33 

Pyle 1,380 

Girls,  Av 11  16  20  20  23  26  27  30  29  32  33  31 

Pintner,  Med 6  11  14  16  18  21  23  24  23   ..   ..  31  3,622 

The  comparison  shows  the  same  tendency  as  in 
the  Digit-Symbol  Test,  namely  the  tendency  for  our 
norms  to  be  slightly  lower,  particularly  in  the 
lower  ages,  and  for  our  norms  to  increase  more  uni- 
formly from  age  to  age  than  Pyle's  norms. 

TEST  IV    WOKD  BUILDING  TEST 

This  test  is  grouped  by  Whipple  under  tests  of 
imagination  and  invention.  In  regard  to  it,  he  says, 
"It  is  one  that  calls  for  ingenuity  and  active  at- 
tention ;  it  might  fairly  be  said  to  demand  that  abil- 
ity to  combine  isolated  fragments  into  a  whole, 
which  Ebbinghaus  has  declared  to  be  the  essence  of 
intelligence,  .  .  .  and  finally,  its  execution  is  con- 
ditioned to  a  certain  extent  by  the  richness  and 
readiness  of  the  examinee's  word  vocabulary." 

7  Pyle,  W.  H.,  op.  cit. 

8  Pintner,  R.,  and  Paterson,  D.  G.,  op.  cit. 


20  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

Of  the  two  standard  series  of  letters  in  common 
use,  namely  a  e  o  b  m  t  and  a  e  i  r  1  p,  we  have  used 
the  aeirlp-test  only.  Our  blank  has  the  letters 
A  E  I E  L  P  printed  at  the  top,  as  shown  in  Figure 
3.  Nothing  else  was  printed  on  the  sheet.  The 
measurements  of  the  blank  are  Sy2  x  11  inches. 

Considerable  work  with  this  test  has  already  been 
reported,  in  particular  by  Whipple,9  Pyle  10  and  An- 
derson.11 A  comparison  of  our  medians  with  the 
averages  computed  by  Whipple  from  the  data  of 
Anderson  and  Pyle  is  as  follows : — 

No.  ol 
Age  8      9     10     11     12     13     14     15     16     17     18    Ad.  Cases 

Anderson,  ]  Boys,  Av 6       7      8     10     11     13     14     16     17     19     16     22 

and       I  2,088 

Pyle,      J  Girls,  Av...     7      8     10     12     13     15     16     17     18     18     19     21 
Pintner,  Med 3      4       5       6      8      9     10     11     11     ....     18   3,462 

The  comparison  of  the  norms  in  this  case  shows 
that  our  medians  are  consistently  much  lower  than 
the  norms  of  Anderson  and  Pyle.  Both  sets  of 
norms  show  a  uniform  tendency  to  increase  from 
age  to  age.  The  difference  in  the  norms  is  very 
great.  The  median  performance  of  our  fifteen  and 
sixteen  year  olds  is  only  equal  to  the  average  per- 
formance of  the  eleven  or  twelve  year  olds  of  the 
other  workers.  This  difference  in  the  norms  must 

9  Whipple,  G.  M.,  "Vocabulary  and  Word  Building  Tests/'  Psy- 
chological Review,  Vol.  XV  (1908),  94-105. 

10  Pyle,  W.  H.,  op.  cit. " 

11  Anderson,  E.  J.    Reported  by  Whipple,  G.  M.,  "Manual  of 
Mental  and  Physical  Tests,"  Vol.  II,  274  et  seq. 


A      E      I      E      L      P 


FIGURE  3.    THE  WORD  BUILDING  TEST. 
21 


22  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

be  due  either  to  the  fact  that  the  children  tested  by 
Anderson  and  by  Pyle  were  much  superior  to  the 
children  tested  by  us  or  to  the  fact  that  the  method 
of  scoring  differed  greatly  in  the  two  investiga- 
tions. The  children  tested  by  us,  as  will  appear 
later,  were  in  the  main  children  from  three  fairly 
good  and  one  average  city  school,  together  with  a 
number  of  children  from  village  schools,  that  is,  by 
no  means  inferior  children.  We  have  no  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  children  tested  by  Anderson 
and  by  Pyle.  In  regard  to  the  method  of  scoring, 
credit  was  given  in  this  investigation  for  59  words 
(see  Part  II),  whereas  the  number  of  words  admit- 
ted by  Anderson  and  Pyle  according  to  Whipple's 
list  is  76.  Nineteen  words  admitted  by  Anderson 
and  Pyle  are  not  admitted  by  us.  These  are  as  fol- 
lows:—  ai,  al,  ar,  aril,  ea,  ela,  epi,  eria,  la,  lepra, 
lerp,  lira,  pali,  parel,  pi,  ra,  re,  rei,  rep.  Two  words 
admitted  by  us  and  not  found  in  Whipple's  list  are 
— peri,  pirl.  The  nineteen  words  not  admitted  by 
us  are  all  extremely  uncommon  words  and  in  our 
experience  words  that  occurred  very  rarely  in  the 
test  papers.  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  slight  dif- 
ference in  the  words  allowed  credit  would  explain 
the  striking  difference  in  the  norms. 


THE  TESTS  23 

TEST  V    OPPOSITES  TEST 

This  test  is  placed  by  Whipple  in  the  group  of 
association  tests.  It  is,  moreover,  a  test  of  con- 
trolled in  contradistinction  to  free  association. 
There  are  numerous  forms  of  controlled  association 
tests,  and  the  Opposites  Test  is  one  type  of  such 
tests.  There  are  nine  lists  of  opposites  given  by 
Whipple.  The  list  used  in  these  experiments  is 
shown  in  Figure  4.  The  actual  measurements  of 
the  blank  are  about  3%  x  7y2  inches,  exclusive  of 
margin.  This  list  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  has  been 
used  by  Thorndike,  Simpson,  Norsworthy  and 
Pyle. 

Our  results  may  be  best  compared  with  those  of 
Pyle  as  the  words  used  and  the  procedure  in  giving 
the  test  were  in  both  cases  the  same : — 

No.  of 

Age  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  Ad.  Cases 

Boys,  Av 9  8  8  11  12  15  15  16  17  20  22  22 

Pyle 1,262 

Girls,  Av 8  8  11  11  14  15  17  17  19  21  23  23 

Pintner,  Med 4       7       8     10     12     14     15     15     15     ..      ..20   3,452 

The  same  general  tendency  for  our  norms  to  be 
lower  is  shown  in  this  test,  although  the  difference 
is  not  nearly  so  great  as  it  was  in  the  last  test.  The 
discrepancy  is  very  great  at  age  eight. 

TEST  VI     CANCELLATION  TEST 

This  test  is  classified  by  Whipple  under  tests  of 
attention  and  perception.  A  great  deal  of  work 


OPPOSITES  TEST 

1.  good 

2.  outside 

3.  quick 

4.  tall 

5.  big 

6.  loud 

7.  white 

8.  light 

9.  happy 

10.  false 

11.  like 

12.  rich 

13.  sick 

14.  glad 

15.  thin 

16.  empty 

17.  war 

18.  many 

19.  above :. 

20.  friend 

Name 

Age Grade Sex.. 

FIGURE  4.    THE  OPPOSITES  TEST. 
24 


THE  TESTS  25 

has  been  done  with  many  different  forms  of  can- 
cellation test  and  the  reader  must  be  referred  to 
Whipple's  Manual  of  Mental  and  Physical  Tests  for 
a  complete  account  of  the  history  and  bibliography 
of  this  test,  together  with  a  description  of  the  vari- 
ous forms  of  cancellation  blank  in  common  use. 

OYKFIUDBHTAGDAACDIXAMRPAGQZTACVAOWALYX 

WABTHAJJANEEFXAMEAOBSVASKAIBLPHANRNPKAZI 

YRQAQEAXJUDFOAIMWZSAUCGVAOABMAYDYAZJDA 

JAOINEVBGAOFHARPVEJCTQZAPJLEQWNAHRBUASR 

SNZMWAWHACAXHXQAXTDPUTYGSKGRKVLAGKAMX 

FUOFAKYAFGTMBLYZJAAVAUACXDATVDACJSIUFMQ 

TXWAMQEAKHAOPXZWCAIBBRZNSOQAQLMDGUSGBO 

AKNAPLPAHYOAEKALNVFARJAEHNAPWIBAYAQRKA 

IUPDSHAQGHTAMZAQGMTPINURQNXJEOWYACREJDZ 

UOLAJOCAKSZAUAFAERFAWAFZAWXBAVHAMBATAI 

KVSTVNAPLAILAOXYSJUOVY1VPAPSDANLKRQAOJLE 

GAQYEMPAZANTIBXGAIMRUSAWZAZWXAMXBDXAJZI 

EAONABAHGDVSVFTCLAYKUAKCWAFRWHTQYAFAOI 

FIGURE  5.    THE  CANCELLATION  TEST. 

The  form  of  cancellation  blank  used  in  this  work 
is  known  as  the  A-test  and  a  copy  of  the  blank  is 
shown  in  Figure  5.  The  measurements  exclusive 
of  margin,  etc.,  are  4%  x  3%  inches.  No  age  norms 
with  this  particular  form  of  the  test  are  known  to 
the  writer,  and  therefore,  no  comparison  with  the 
norms  obtained  in  this  investigation  can  be  made. 


26  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

Of  the  six  survey  tests  used,  this  test  seems  to 
the  writer  to  be  least  satisfactory.  Although,  on 
the  whole,  some  correlation  of  ability  in  this  test 
with  general  intelligence  is  reported  by  most  work- 
ers, it  is  not  very  high,  and  this  is  the  general  im- 
pression gained  by  the  writer  in  his  work  with  this 
test. 

Educational  Tests.— Work  with  two  educational 
tests  is  reported  in  Chapter  VI,  and  they  may  be 
briefly  mentioned  here. 

TRABUE  LANGUAGE  SCALE  B 

This  is  one  of  the  language  scales  constructed  by 
Trabue.12  The  tentative  standards  proposed  by 
Trabue  are  here  compared  with  our  results: — 

Uni-    No.   o 
Grade  I        II      III      IV       V       VI     VII   VIII    IX    versity  Cases 

Trabue,  Med 3         6         8       10       11       12       13       14       

Pintner,  Med 4         6         8       10       11       12       13       13       14         18       1,442 

Our  norms,  it  will  be  noted,  are  higher  for  all 
grades,  except  grades  eight  and  nine.  Trabue 's 
medians  are  estimated  medians  not  based  upon  the 
application  of  Scale  B,  as  an  independent  scale,  to 
any  group  of  school  children. 

12  Trabue,  M.  R.,  "Completion  Test  Language  Scales,"  Teach- 
ers' College  Contributions  to  Education,  No.  77  (1916). 


THE  TESTS  27 

COURTIS  ARITHMETIC  TESTS 

The  amount  of  work  done  with  these  tests  is  so 
great  that  it  would  be  futile  to  attempt  any  descrip- 
tion or  summary  of  it  in  this  book.  Furthermore, 
the  use  of  these  tests  in  this  work  is  only  inciden- 
tal. They  have  been  used  to  show  how  educational 
achievement  may  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the 
mentality  of  the  children. 

The  Courtis  Standard  Tests,  Arithmetic,  Series 
B,  were  the  tests  used. 


CHAPTEE  III 
THE  COMPUTATION  OF  THE  RESULTS 

THE  number  of  children  tested  by  the  six  survey 
tests  varies  somewhat  for  each  test.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  owing  to  various  circumstances  all 
the  tests  could  not  always  be  given  to  all  the  chil- 
dren. For  this  reason  the  total  number  tested  on 
each  test,  and  the  number  at  each  age  varies  from 
test  to  test.  This  variation  in  the  number  is  not 
due  to  any  attempt  to  exclude  specific  individuals 
(e.g.,  defective  children),  because  the  attempt  was 
always  made  to  test  all  the  children  in  a  grade  or  in 
a  school. 

After  the  papers  had  been  scored  as  explained 
in  Part  II  of  this  book,  tables  of  distribution  for 
each  test  for  each  age  were  made.  These  tables 
are  too  extended  to  publish  here  and  a  description 
of  them  must  suffice.  All  the  tables  showed  each 
unit  of  the  score.  All  the  tests,  except  two,  the 
Digit-Symbol  and  the  Symbol-Digit,  are  scored  with- 
out the  use  of  fractions,  and  therefore  the  tables  of 
distribution  showed  each  step  in  the  method  of  scor- 
ing. The  table  of  distribution  for  the  Rote  Memory 

28 


COMPUTATION  OF  THE  RESULTS  29 

Test  showed  each  step  from  0  to  66  (the  highest 
score) ;  the  table  for  the  Opposites  from  0  to  20 
(the  highest  score) ;  and  so  on.  In  the  case  of  the 
Digit-Symbol  and  Symbol-Digit  tests  fractions  were 
disregarded  in  the  tables  of  distribution,  L  e.,  the 
fractions  were  simply  omitted  and  the  whole  num- 
ber (not  necessarily  the  nearest)  taken. 

Furthermore,  the  tables  of  distribution  were  pro- 
gressive, in  the  sense  that  they  showed  the  addition 
of  each  new  set  of  tests.  At  the  same  time  the  per- 
centiles  for  each  addition  to  the  distribution  were 
calculated.  In  this  way  the  distribution  tables  show 
the  effect  of  each  additional  set  of  results  on  the 
percentile  norms.  This  method  was  adopted  so  that 
some  idea  might  be  obtained  as  to  when  a  satisfac- 
tory standardization  had  been  reached.  The  less 
the  percentiles  are  changed  by  additions  to  the  data, 
the  more  likely  is  it  that  we  have  attained  a  satis- 
factory standardization.  The  additions  to  the  data 
were  not  equal,  so  that  we  cannot  claim  that  the  se- 
ries of  percentiles  calculated  for  each  age  repre- 
sented equal  additions  or  equal  percentages  of  the 
first  set  of  cases.  The  additions  to  the  data  from 
time  to  time  were  very  unequal  and  were  deter- 
mined by  the  number  of  new  cases  that  happened  to 
be  tested  from  time  to  time. 

At  most  ages  there  were  five  or  six  additions  to 
the  original  data,  so  that  we  have  five  or  six  sets  of 


30  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

percentiles.  An  inspection  of  the  variation  of  these 
percentiles  gives  some  idea  of  the  adequacy  of  the 
standardization.  If  the  variation  is  slight  and 
shows  a  tendency  to  decrease,  we  may  assume  that 
the  standardization  is  becoming  more  and  more  ade- 
quate. Because  of  the  great  amount  of  space  re- 
quired to  print  all  these  percentiles,  we  have  de- 
cided merely  to  show  three  at  each  age,  regardless 
of  the  fact  that  progression  from  one  set  of  percen- 
tiles to  the  other  may  represent  very  varying  addi- 
tions at  different  ages.  Three  series  of  percentiles 
taken  at  three  different  stages  in  the  standardiza- 
tion will  give  some  idea  of  the  adequacy  of  the 
standardization. 

Tables  1  to  6  show  the  three  series  of  percentiles 
at  each  percentile  point  for  each  age  for  the  six 
tests.  The  first  figure  shows  the  percentile  calcu- 
lated for  the  first  set  of  tests,  the  second  the  per- 
centiles at  about  the  middle  of  the  standardization 
and  the  third  the  percentiles  for  the  data  tabulated 
up  to  the  present  time.  Table  1  is  to  be  read  as  fol- 
lows:— on  the  Eote  Memory  Test  for  age  seven 
(third  vertical  column)  the  100  percentile  or  highest 
score  for  the  first  set  of  data  was  39,  after  the  addi- 
tion of  the  second  set  it  was  still  39,  and  after  the 
addition  of  the  third  set  39.  In  other  words  no 
change  occurred  in  the  100  percentile.  The  first  set 
of  data  as  can  be  seen  from  the  bottom  row,  headed 


COMPUTATION  OF  THE  RESULTS 

TABLE  1 
ROTE  MEMORY  TEST — PERCENTILES 


Age 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

Ad. 

Percentile 

29 

39 

45 

50 

54 

61 

59 

59 

56 

58 

59 

100 

34 

39 

47 

56 

60 

61 

59 

64 

62 

66 

59 

34 

39 

49 

56 

60 

61 

66 

64 

62 

66 

59 

64 

14 

29 

33 

40 

44 

46 

48 

52 

53 

53 

54 

90 

18 

29 

36 

41 

45 

48 

50 

52 

'  55 

52 

54 

18 

29 

36 

41 

45 

48 

50 

52 

54 

53 

52 

62 

11 

25 

31 

37 

41 

44 

45 

48 

47 

49 

52 

80 

12 

25 

32 

38 

42 

45 

47 

49 

52 

49 

52 

12 

25 

32 

38 

42 

45 

47 

49 

51 

49 

50 

58 

6 

21 

28 

35 

39 

41 

44 

46 

44 

45 

52 

70 

7 

22 

29 

35 

40 

42 

45 

47 

49 

47 

48 

6 

23 

29 

35 

40 

42 

45 

47 

49 

47 

47 

57 

4 

19 

26 

32 

37 

39 

41 

43 

43 

44 

49 

60 

4 

19 

27 

34 

38 

40 

42 

45 

46 

45 

47 

4 

20 

27 

33 

37 

40 

43 

45 

45 

45 

47 

56 

3 

16 

23 

30 

34 

37 

40 

40 

42 

42 

47 

50 

4 

17 

25 

32 

35 

38 

41 

43 

44 

43 

45 

3 

18 

25 

31 

34 

38 

41 

43 

44 

43 

45 

56 

3 

13 

21 

27 

32 

36 

38 

39 

39 

38 

47 

40 

3 

13 

22 

29 

32 

36 

39 

40 

42 

41 

44 

2 

14 

22 

28 

32 

36 

39 

40 

42 

41 

42 

55 

2 

9 

17 

25 

29 

33 

36 

36 

38 

36 

45 

30 

2 

10 

18 

26 

30 

33 

37 

39 

40 

39 

42 

2 

11 

18 

26 

30 

33 

36 

38 

40 

40 

41 

51 

1 

6 

12 

22 

26 

31 

34 

34 

35 

33 

45 

20 

1 

6 

13 

23 

27 

31 

34 

36 

38 

37 

40 

0 

7 

14 

23 

27 

31 

34 

35 

38 

37 

38 

50 

0 

3 

6 

17 

19 

27 

30 

29 

32 

29 

42 

10 

0 

3 

6 

18 

21 

28 

31 

32 

35 

33 

34 

0 

3 

7 

18 

21 

27 

29 

32 

35 

32 

36 

46 

0 

0 

0 

3 

6 

17 

20 

24 

14 

25 

28 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

1 

13 

14 

14 

25 

28 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

1 

9 

14 

14 

25 

28 

37 

121 

291 

291 

220 

195 

156 

118 

96 

65 

25 

13 

Totals 

124 

346 

379 

320 

311 

279 

231 

275 

190 

89 

37 

132 

394 

442 

416 

391 

347 

311 

351 

331 

179 

60 

38 

THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

TABLE  2 
DIGIT-SYMBOL  TEST — PERCENTILES 


Age 

6 

7 

8 

9   10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

Ad. 

Percentile 

13 

17 

17 

21   25 

27 

32 

32 

36 

38 

32 

100 

13 

19 

17 

25   26 

27 

34 

40 

36 

38 

38 

14 

20 

25 

25   26 

33 

34 

40 

38. 

39 

40 

50 

5 

11 

12 

16   20 

22 

23 

24 

25 

29 

28 

90 

4 

10 

12 

16   20 

22 

25 

30 

29 

30 

32 

4 

11 

13 

17   20 

22 

25 

29 

30 

32 

33 

39 

2 

9 

10 

14   18 

20 

21 

23 

23 

27 

26 

80 

0 

9 

11 

14   18 

20 

23 

26 

27 

28 

30 

0 

9 

11 

15   18 

20 

23 

26 

28 

29 

31 

37 

0 

8 

9 

13   16 

'  19 

20 

21 

22 

25 

24 

70 

0 

7 

9 

13   17 

19 

21 

24 

25 

27 

27 

0 

8 

10 

14   17 

19 

21 

24 

27 

27 

28 

34 

0 

5 

8 

11   14 

17 

19 

20 

20 

24 

23 

60 

0 

5 

8 

11   15 

17 

20 

23 

23 

25 

26 

0 

6 

9 

12   16 

18 

20 

23 

25 

26 

26 

32 

0 

3 

6 

9   13 

15 

17 

19 

18 

23 

21 

50 

0 

3 

7 

10   14 

16 

19 

21 

22 

24 

25 

0 

4 

7 

11   14 

16 

18 

21 

24 

25 

25 

30 

0 

0 

5  4 

8   12 

14 

16 

17 

17 

21 

20 

40 

0 

0 

9  5 

9   13 

15 

17 

20 

20 

23 

24 

0 

1 

6 

10   13 

15 

17 

20 

22 

23 

24 

29 

0 

0 

0 

67   9 

13 

14 

17 

16 

20 

18 

30 

0 

0 

2 

1  8   11 

13 

15 

18 

18 

21 

21 

0 

0 

3 

0  8   11 

13 

15 

18 

20 

21 

22 

28 

0 

0 

0 

5   7 

10 

12 

15 

15 

19 

16 

20 

0 

0 

0 

6   9 

11 

13 

16 

16 

19 

18 

0 

0 

0 

16   9 

11 

13 

16 

18 

20 

20 

27 

0 

0 

0 

0.4  3 

4 

7 

5 

3 

16 

15 

10 

0 

0 

0 

0.7  3 

8 

9 

13 

14 

15 

16 

0 

0 

0 

0.8  4 

8 

10 

13 

15 

16 

16 

25 

0 

0 

0 

0   0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0   0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0   0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

20 

124 

275 

296 

219  197 

153 

115 

95 

65 

89 

38 

Totals 

166 

336 

384 

315  312 

235 

229 

275 

193 

173 

82 

175 

387 

449 

409  391 

347 

308 

356 

367 

231 

114 

75 

COMPUTATION  OF  THE  RESULTS 


33 


TABLE  3 

SYMBOL-DIGIT  TEST — PERCENTILES 


Age 


8 


10      11       12      13      14      15      16    Ad. 


Percentile 

13  19  20  24  29  32  30  37  40  39  41 

100   13  19  20  24  29  34  36  40  44  39  41 

13  19  20  26  29  34  38  40  45  39  41   53 


90 

3 

9 

13 

17 

21 

24 

26 

30 

32 

31 

33 

3 

9 

13 

18 

21 

24 

27 

30 

32 

32 

33 

40 

0 

,  7 

10 

15 

18 

20 

21 

24 

21 

27 

28 

80 

0 

7 

10 

15 

19 

21 

23 

27 

29 

28 

29 

0 

7 

11 

16 

19 

21 

23 

27 

29 

29 

29 

38 

0 

6 

8 

12 

16 

19 

19 

22 

19 

26 

28 

70 

0 

6 

9 

13 

17 

19 

21 

24 

27 

27 

28 

0 

6 

9 

14 

17 

19 

21 

24 

27 

27 

28 

35 

0 

4 

7 

11 

14 

17 

18 

21 

18 

24 

23 

60 

0 

4 

7 

12 

15 

17 

19 

23 

25 

25 

26 

0 

5 

8 

12 

15 

18 

19 

23 

25 

25 

26 

33 

0 

3 

6 

9 

13 

16 

16 

18 

16 

22 

22 

50 

0 

3 

6 

10 

13 

16 

18 

22 

22 

24 

22 

0 

3 

6 

11 

14 

16 

18 

21 

23 

24 

23 

31 

0 

0. 

4  4 

8 

11 

15 

15 

17 

15 

22 

20 

40 

0 

0. 

9  4 

8 

12 

15 

16 

20 

21 

22 

22 

0 

1. 

0  5 

9 

12 

15 

16 

20 

21 

22 

22 

29 

0 

0 

1 

6 

10 

13 

13 

16 

13 

20 

18 

30 

0 

0 

2 

7 

10 

13 

14 

19 

20 

21 

19 

0 

0 

3 

8 

11 

13 

15 

18 

21 

21 

21 

28 

0 

0 

0 

4 

7 

11 

10 

14 

12 

18 

14 

20 

0 

0 

0 

4 

7 

11 

12 

17 

18 

18 

15 

0 

0 

0 

5 

8 

11 

12 

17 

18 

19 

16 

26 

0 

0 

0 

0. 

9  4 

7 

7 

11 

10 

15 

5 

10 

0 

0 

0 

1 

4 

8 

8 

14 

15 

16 

11 

0 

0 

0 

1 

5 

8 

9 

14 

14 

16 

12 

23 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

14 

123 

275 

297 

217 

196 

150 

123 

94 

64 

90 

39 

Totals 

165 

310 

388 

316 

312 

273 

239 

272 

298 

175 

84 

174 

390 

454 

408 

391 

341 

319 

354 

363 

238 

113 

77 

84  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

TABLE  4 
WORD  BUILDING  TEST — PERCENTILES 


Age 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

Ad. 

Percentile 

6 

11 

11 

15 

17 

20 

18 

21 

17 

14 

21 

100 

6 

13 

11 

15 

17 

20 

19 

30 

29 

26 

24 

6 

13 

11 

15 

20 

20 

27 

30 

29 

26 

25 

35 

2 

4 

6 

8 

11 

13 

14 

13 

12 

10 

14 

90 

2 

4 

6 

8 

10 

13 

14 

16 

16 

16 

17 

2 

5 

7 

9 

10 

13 

14 

16 

16 

17 

18 

25 

3 

4 

6 

9 

10 

11 

11 

10 

9 

13 

80 

3 

5 

6 

9 

10 

12 

14 

14 

14 

14 

3 

5 

7 

9 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

14 

23 

2 

4 

5 

8 

9 

9 

10 

9 

8 

12 

70 

2 

4 

5 

8 

9 

10 

12 

12 

12 

13 

3 

4 

6 

7 

9 

10 

12 

12 

13 

13 

21 

1 

1 

3 

4 

6 

8 

8 

8 

8 

7 

11 

60 

1 

2 

3 

5 

6 

8 

9 

11 

11 

11 

12 

0 

2 

3 

5 

6 

8 

9 

11 

11 

12 

12 

19 

0 

1 

2 

4 

6 

6 

7 

7 

7 

6 

9 

50 

0 

1 

3 

4 

6 

6 

8 

10 

9 

11 

10 

0 

1 

3 

4 

5 

6 

8 

9 

10 

11 

11 

18 

0 

0 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

6 

6 

6 

5 

40 

0 

1 

2 

3 

4 

6 

7 

8 

8 

9 

9 

0 

1 

2 

3 

4 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

9 

18 

0 

0 

1 

2 

4 

5 

4 

4 

5 

4 

4 

30 

0 

0 

1 

2 

4 

5 

6 

7 

7 

8 

9 

0 

0 

1 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

7 

8 

9 

17 

0 

0 

1 

2 

2 

3 

4 

3 

4 

3 

3 

20 

0 

0 

1 

2 

3 

4 

4 

5 

6 

6 

6 

0 

0 

1 

2 

3 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

7 

16 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

10 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

2 

2 

3 

4 

4 

3 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

2 

2 

3 

4 

4 

4 

14 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

11 

98 

287 

295 

219 

199 

152 

118 

96 

64 

21 

14 

Totals 

101 

344 

387 

316 

311 

277 

229 

275 

195 

149 

56 

109 

391 

451 

410 

393 

344 

311 

354 

356 

215 

89 

39 

COMPUTATION  OF  THE  RESULTS 

TABLE  5 
OPPOSITES  TEST — PEKCENTILES 


35 


Age 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

Ad. 

Percentile 

5 

19 

17 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

19 

20 

20 

100 

5 

19 

17 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

5 

19 

17 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

0 

7 

8 

10 

18 

15 

15 

16 

16 

16 

15 

90 

1 

6 

9 

11 

16 

15 

17 

19 

19 

19 

19 

20 

1 

6 

9 

11 

15 

15 

17 

19 

19 

19 

20 

20 

0 

5 

7 

9 

13 

13 

14 

15 

15 

14 

14 

80 

0 

5 

7 

9 

13 

13 

16 

17 

18 

18 

17 

20 

0 

5 

7 

9 

12 

13 

16 

17 

18 

18 

19 

20 

0 

3 

6 

8 

11 

11 

13 

14 

13 

13 

13 

70 

0 

3 

6 

8 

11 

12 

15 

16 

17 

16 

16 

20 

0 

4 

6 

8 

11 

12 

14 

16 

17 

16 

17 

20 

0 

2 

5 

7 

9 

10 

11 

13 

13 

12 

12 

60 

0 

2 

5 

7 

9 

10 

13 

15 

16 

16 

15 

20 

0 

2 

5 

8 

9 

11 

13 

15 

16 

16 

16 

20 

0 

2 

4 

6 

8 

9 

10 

12 

12 

11 

10 

50 

0 

1 

4 

6 

8 

9 

12 

15 

15 

15 

14 

20 

0 

2 

4 

7 

8 

10 

12 

14 

15 

15 

15 

20 

0 

1 

2 

5 

7 

8 

9 

11 

11 

10 

10 

40 

0 

1 

2 

5 

7 

8 

10 

13 

14 

14 

13 

19 

0 

1 

3 

6 

7 

9 

10 

13 

14 

14 

14 

20 

0 

0 

1 

3 

6 

7 

9 

9 

10 

8 

9 

30 

0 

0 

1 

4 

6 

7 

9 

12 

13 

13 

12 

19 

0 

0 

2 

5 

7 

8 

9 

12 

13 

13 

13 

19 

0 

0 

0 

1 

5 

6 

8 

7 

9 

7 

7 

20 

0 

0 

0 

2 

5 

6 

9 

10 

12 

11 

11 

19 

0 

0 

1 

3 

5 

6 

8 

10 

12 

12 

11 

19 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

4 

6 

6 

5 

6 

7 

10 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

4 

7 

8 

10 

9 

9 

18 

0 

0 

0 

1 

2 

4 

7 

7 

10 

9 

10 

18 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

4 

6 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

6 

13 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

13 

94 

277 

296 

219 

196 

156 

120 

94 

67 

25 

13 

Totals 

96 

338 

386 

310 

306 

262 

225 

272 

306 

156 

54 

43 

104 

388 

453 

399 

384 

332 

305 

340 

356 

223 

86 

82 

THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 


TABLE  6 
CANCELLATION  TEST — PERCENTILES 


Age       6 


8        9       10      11      12      13      14      15      16     Ad. 


Percentile 

73  48  76  97 

100   73  57  76  97 

73  78  76  97 


65   84   98   81   78   73 

86   92   98  100   99   97   89 

86   92   98  100   99   97   89 


27  33  38  42  49  47  59  60  64  65  69 

90   27  33  38  43  51  53  64  72  73  76  77  82 

27  37  39  43  49  56  64  70  73  76  77  78 

23  29  34  37  42  45  51  55  55  57  64 

80   23  29  34  37  46  47  59  63  65  68  71  69 

23  31  35  38  45  48  59  62  65  68  71  69 


20 

27 

32 

34 

37 

42 

47 

50 

50 

52 

60 

70 

20 

27 

32 

34 

39 

44 

53 

58 

61 

63 

67 

65 

20 

28 

32 

35 

40 

44 

53 

57 

61 

63 

67 

66 

18 

25 

29 

32 

35 

39 

42 

48 

49 

49 

57 

60 

18 

25 

29 

31 

37 

41 

49 

55 

57 

61 

61 

62 

18 

26 

29 

32 

37 

41 

49 

54 

57 

61 

61 

64 

16 

23 

27 

30 

34 

37 

38 

46 

46 

46 

54 

50 

16 

23 

27 

30 

35 

38 

46 

51 

53 

56 

59 

60 

16 

25 

28 

31 

35 

39 

45 

50 

53 

56 

59 

61 

14 

21 

25 

28 

32 

36 

37 

42 

42 

44 

50 

40 

14 

21 

26 

28 

33 

36 

42 

49 

51 

53 

54 

5 

14 

22 

26 

29 

33 

36 

41 

48 

50 

53 

56 

56 

9 

12 

19 

23 

26 

30 

32 

34 

38 

38 

42 

47 

30 

13 

18 

24 

26 

31 

34 

38 

46 

48 

49 

50 

54 

13 

19 

24 

27 

31 

34 

38 

45 

48 

49 

51 

53 

9 

16 

20 

23 

28 

31 

32 

36 

35 

38 

45 

20 

10 

16 

21 

23 

28 

32 

35 

42 

45 

46 

48 

50 

10 

17 

21 

24 

29 

32 

35 

40 

44 

46 

49 

50 

0 

11 

17 

20 

26 

27 

28 

34 

30 

29 

39 

10 

0 

11 

18 

20 

24 

29 

31 

36 

38 

41 

42 

46 

0 

12 

18 

21 

26 

29 

30 

35 

37 

41 

46 

46 

0 

0 

0 

0 

8 

13 

7 

26 

14 

27 

38 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

13 

27 

0 

39 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

13 

27 

0 

28 

127 

280 

303 

191 

175 

133 

98 

82 

43 

21 

11 

Totals 

169 

338 

392 

281 

279 

247 

208 

256 

280 

167 

78 

46 

177 

385 

460 

368 

358 

315 

292 

333 

342 

228 

109 

85 

COMPUTATION  OF  THE  RESULTS  37 

"  totals, "  included  291  cases,  the  second  set  added 
55  cases,  making  a  total  of  346,  and  the  third  set 
added  48  cases,  making  a  total  of  394.  At  age  eight 
the  100  percentile  starts  with  a  score  of  45  and 
changes  to  47  and  then  to  49.  The  90  percentile  for 
the  eight-year-olds  starts  with  a  score  of  33,  then 
changes  to  36,  at  which  it  remains.  The  70  percen- 
tile starts  with  28  and  then  changes  to  29  at  which 
point  it  remains  stationary.  These  three  series  of 
percentiles  for  the  eight-year-olds  are  calculated 
from  291,  379  and  442  cases.  The  other  tables  are 
to  be  interpreted  in  the  same  way. 

At  most  ages  each  new  percentile  represents 
roughly  the  addition  of  one  hundred  cases.  This  is 
not  so  at  the  upper  and  lower  ages  in  which  fewer 
cases  were  tested.  Age  six  shows  the  addition  of 
very  few  cases  after  the  original  set,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  then  realized  that  the  six  tests  were 
not  well  adapted  to  six-year-olds.  Ages  fifteen  and 
sixteen  show  a  falling  off  in  the  number  of  cases  as 
contrasted  with  the  other  ages  and  the  standardiza- 
tion for  these  two  ages  is  far  less  reliable  than  for 
the  other  ages.  This  is  borne  out  by  an  inspection  of 
the  percentiles.  They  are  more  variable  for  these 
ages  than  for  the  other  ages.  It  will  be  noted  that 
the  last  column  shows  a  small  group  of  adults  tested 
on  each  of  the  tests.  These  adults  are  university 
students  and  the  percentile  scores  are  not  meant  to 


38  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

be  representative  for  adults  in  general.  They  are 
merely  added  for  the  purpose  of  comparison  in  re- 
gard to  what  a  group  of  superior  adults  can  accom- 
plish on  the  tests.  The  percentiles  are  in  general 
decidedly  higher  than  the  percentiles  for  the  chil- 
dren. This  is,  however,  not  true  in  every  single 
case,  as  in  the  Cancellation  and  Opposites  Tests. 

Without  claiming  that  the  standardization  here  of- 
fered is  perfect,  we  may  say  that  it  has  at  least 
reached  a  stage  where  the  results  may  be  used  for 
the  purpose  of  mental  surveys  without  making  them 
subject  to  very  great  error. 

The  total  number  of  individuals  included  in  the 
data  reported  here  is  as  follows: — 

Rote  Memory  Test 3392 

Digit-Symbol  Test 3609 

Symbol-Digit  Test 3622 

Word  Building  Test 3462 

Opposites  Test 3452 

Cancellation  Test 3452 

In  Part  II  percentile  tables  for  actual  use  in  work- 
ing with  the  tests  are  given.  These  tables  give  the 
last  percentile  calculated  from  the  data  tabulated  up 
to  date. 

The  median  percentile  of  the  six  tests  gives  the 
individual  mental  index.  An  interpretation  of  this 
index  can  only  be  made  when  we  compare  it  with 
the  mental  indices  of  children  tested  on  the  six 


COMPUTATION  OF  THE  RESULTS  39 

tests.  From  2920  cases  tested  on  all  the  six  tests, 
tables  of  distribution  of  these  mental  indices  were 
therefore  made,  and  the  percentile  values  for  these 
indices  determined.  This  procedure  is  necessary, 
because  we  are  combining  the  results  of  six  tests.  A 
median  percentile  of  90  does  not  necessarily  mean 
that  the  child  is  a  ninety  per  cent  child  on  all  the 
tests  combined.  It  will  probably  be  higher,  because 
a  median  of  90  indicates  that  the  child  is  more  than 
a  ninety  per  cent  child  on  three  tests.  A  mental  in- 
dex of  100  would  mean  that  a  child  made  100  on  four 
of  the  six  tests  and  this  would  be  very  exceptional, 
as  a  matter  of  fact  a  performance  that  did  not  occur 
in  any  of  the  2920  children  under  consideration. 
The  table  of  median  percentiles  will  be  found  in 
Part  II  where  it  can  be  used  by  the  worker  applying 
the  tests. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SURVEYS  OF  SCHOOLS 

EXAMPLES  of  the  use  of  these  tests  in  the  survey  of 
schools  and  other  groups  of  children  will  be  given 
here.  The  tests  were  given,  scored  and  the  results 
evaluated  as  described  in  Part  II  of  this  book- 
Guide  for  the  Use  of  the  Tests. 

We  shall  present  the  results  from  four  city 
schools,  one  village  school,  and  a  group  of  four  one- 
room  rural  schools.  Table  7  shows  the  mental  in- 

TABLE  7 
MENTAL  INDICES  BY  GRADES 


School 

Ci. 

Ch. 

Cl. 

Cn. 

V. 

R. 

Grade 

II 

23 

42 

35.5 

65 

7.5 

12 

III 

45 

58.5 

38 

64.5 

34.5 

9.5 

IV 

57 

58 

42 

58.5 

30 

18 

V 

65 

50 

44 

42 

18 

30 

VI 

65 

44 

58.5 

68 

40 

17 

VII 

58.5 

35 

58 

.... 

42 

8 

VIII 

58.5 

42 

68.5 

.... 

42 

36 

IX 

65 

65 

Whole 

School 

58.5 

47 

44.5 

58.5 

30 

17 

40 


SURVEYS  OF  SCHOOLS  41 

dex  of  each  grade  for  the  six  schools.  The  mental 
indices  on  this  table  are  the  corrected  medians  as 
derived  from  Table  28  (page  110).  That  is  to  say, 
the  median  percentile  for  the  grade  was  interpreted 
in  the  light  of  the  distribution  of  median  percentiles 
as  given  in  that  table.  This  gives  us  a  more  cor- 
rect rating  of  the  mentality  of  the  group.  The  four 
city  schools  are  called  Ci,  Ch,  01,  On.  The  C  in  this 
case  denotes  "city."  The  village  school  is  desig- 
nated V,  and  the  group  of  rural  schools  E.  The 
table  is  to  be  read  as  follows: — the  median  mental 
index  of  the  second  grade  in  school  Ci  is  23,  in  school 
Ch  42,  in  school  CI  35.5,  and  so  on.  The  next  line 
gives  the  median  mental  indices  for  grade  three. 
The  last  line  shows  the  median  mental  index  for  the 
whole  school,  and  this  may  be  taken  as  a  measure 
of  the  mentality  of  the  school. 

Figure  6  shows  the  same  facts  as  Table  7.  The 
fluctuation  of  the  curves  would  seem  to  indicate  con- 
siderable variability  in  the  mentality  of  the  children 
in  different  schools  and  in  different  grades  of  the 
same  school.  One  characteristic,  common  to  all  of 
the  schools,  except  the  village  school,  is  the  relatively 
higher  mentality  of  the  last  grade  in  the  school. 
This  is  seen  in  the  rise  of  the  curves  for  the  highest 
grade,  making  the  mentality  of  the  children  in  the 
highest  grade  generally  higher  than  that  of  any 
other  grade  in  the  same  school.  This  characteristic 


THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 


does  not  apply  to  any  one  grade,  but  to  the  highest 
grade  which  the  school  happens  to  have.  In  schools 
Ci  and  Ch  the  highest  grade  is  the  ninth  and  the 


Percenta&e 


60 


70 


60 


SO 


30 


to 


10 


School  Ci. 

»     Ch. 

"    a. 


V 


\ 


School C 


n. 
••      V 

"     R. 


M  _ZF  1  ~SL  W          HE 

FIGURE  6.    MENTAL  INDICES  BY  GRADES. 


mental  index  of  this  grade  in  each  case  is  at  least 
as  high  as  that  of  any  other  grade,  and  higher  than 
the  grades  immediately  preceding.  In  schools  CI 
and  E  the  highest  grade  is  the  eighth  and  in  both 


SURVEYS  OF  SCHOOLS  43 

these  cases  the  mental  index  is  higher  than  any 
other  grade  in  these  schools.  In  school  Cn  the  high- 
est grade  is  the  sixth  and  again  we  find  the  index 
of  this  grade  higher  than  that  of  any  other  grade  in 
the  same  school.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  most  of 
these  five  schools  the  grades  immediately  preceding 
the  highest  have  relatively  low  mental  indices.  It 
would  seem  probable  that  the  school  looks  upon  the 
highest  grade,  whichever  grade  this  may  happen  to 
be,  as  a  kind  of  select  grade,  a  sort  of  graduating 
class  from  which  the  most  retarded  pupils  are  ex- 
cluded. It  may  be  that  mental  surveys  of  other 
schools  may  not  find  this  .to  be  a  general  custom. 
The  number  of  schools  tested  in  this  investigation  is 
not  sufficient  for  a  generalization  of  this  kind. 

The  great  variability  of  the  mental  index  in  the 
different  grades  of  the  same  school  is  noticeable  and 
may  reflect  in  a  way  the  different  customs  in  regard 
to  promotion  in  the  different  schools.  Grade  two 
in  school  Ci  is  abnormally  low  and  this  is  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  one  section  of  this  grade  was  un- 
fortunately not  tested,  and  this,  according  to  the 
principal,  was  a  brighter  section  than  the  section 
tested. 

The  last  horizontal  row  on  Table  7  shows  the 
median  index  for  the  whole  school.  The  highest  in- 
dex is  obtained  by  Ci  and  Cn,  i.  e.,  58.5  in  each  case. 
Ci  is  a  junior  high  school  in  a  very  good  quarter  of 


44  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

the  city  and  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  best  schools 
in  the  city  in  regard  to  the  class  of  children  attend- 
ing the  school.  Cn  is  a  school,  which  only  goes  up 
to  the  sixth  grade.  It  is  in  much  the  same  neigh- 
borhood as  Ci  and  sends  most  of  its  pupils,  who 
graduate  from  the  sixth  grade,  to  Ci.  Cn,  however, 
gets  a  certain  small  proportion  of  its  pupils  from  a 
less  desirable  district  than  that  from  which  the  ma- 
jority of  its  pupils  come.  These  pupils  as  a  rule 
do  not  go  much,  if  at  all,  beyond  the  sixth  grade  and 
therefore  this  element  does  not  enter  into  school  Ci. 
We  shall  see  the  effect  of  this  element  in  another 
comparison  of  the  schools  immediately. 

School  Ch  ranks  next  to  the  two  foregoing  schools 
with  an  index  of  47.  This  is  another  junior  high 
school,  the  population  of  which  is  rather  mixed.  It 
may  be  described  as  composed  of  a  very  desirable 
class,  a  good  middle  class  and  a  certain  number  of 
a  poorer  and  more  shiftless  class. 

School  CI  ranks  next  with  an  index  of  44.5.  This 
school  is  in  a  good  working  class  district,  a  district 
by  no  means  as  desirable  as  the  districts  in  which 
the  other  schools  are  situated,  but  at  the  same  time 
by  no  means  one  of  the  worst  in  the  city.  Its  rank 
in  regard  to  the  other  four  schools  is  according  to 
expectation.  It  was  unfortunate  that  one  of  the 
schools  in  the  worst  district  of  the  city  could  not  be 


SURVEYS  OF  SCHOOLS  45 

surveyed  in  time  to  be  included  in  the  results  of  the 
present  investigation. 

The  fifth  in  rank  of  the  schools  tested  is  the  vil- 
lage school  with  an  index  of  30.  This  is  a  sleepy, 
unprogressive  village  and  the  mental  index  prob- 
ably sums  up  adequately  the  average  mentality  of 
the  population. 

The  rural  schools  rank  lowest  with  an  index  of 
only  17.  This  was  a  great  surprise  to  the  writer, 
who  had  indeed  expected  an  index  lower  than  the 
city  schools,  but  certainly  not  one  so  low.  The  fault 
may  lie  with  the  tests,  although  the  results  so  far 
obtained  would  not  seem  to  indicate  this.  It  may 
be  that  this  particular  rural  community  does  not 
possess  a  high  grade  of  mentality.  The  results  ob- 
tained in  this  case  will  be  made  the  starting  point 
for  an  investigation  into  the  mentality  of  the  chil- 
dren in  urban  and  in  rural  communities.  This  par- 
ticular rural  community  cannot,  of  course,  be  taken 
in  any  sense  as  typical  of  rural  communities  in  gen- 
eral. We  shall  expect  to  find  great  variation  in  the 
mentality  of  rural  communities,  just  as  we  find  great 
variation  in  the  mentality  of  the  population  in  dif- 
ferent sections  of  a  city. 

Another  group  of  children,  not  a  school,  were  also 
tested  by  the  writer  and  will  be  mentioned  here  for 
purposes  of  comparison.  The  group  included  94 


46  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

children  in  a  county  children's  home.13  The  men- 
tal index  of  this  group  was  13,  an  index  much  lower 
than  that  of  any  of  the  schools  tested.  Knowing 
the  type  of  children  in  this  county  home,  we  see 
that  our  survey  tests  bear  out  our  knowledge  of 
their  mentality  by  placing  them  lower  than  any  of 
the  schools  tested. 

Classification  of  Individuals. — Our  survey  tests 
cannot  be  used  for  individual  diagnosis,  because  of 
the  errors  that  may  enter  into  the  tests  when  given 
as  group  tests.  We  may,  however,  use  them  for  a 
general  classification  into  groups  realizing  that 
some  particular  cases  may  not  be  rightly  classified. 
Some  children  may  be  placed  too  high  and  others  too 
low.  The  general  classification  may  nevertheless 
give  us  a  fairly  true  picture  of  the  group. 

Using  the  five-fold  classification  into  Very  Bright, 
Bright,  Average,  Backward  and  Dull,  as  suggested 
in  Part  II,  and  using  the  limiting  points  there  given, 
we  arrive  at  the  results  shown  in  Tables  8  and  9. 
All  children  six  years  and  under  have  been  omitted, 
because  the  mental  indices  for  the  six-year-olds  can- 
not be  used  for  the  classification  here  adopted  (see 
Table  28,  p.  110).  Table  8  gives  the  actual  numbers 
and  is  to  be  interpreted  as  follows : —  In  school  Ci 

13Pintner,  R.,  "The  Mentality  of  the  Dependent  Child,  To- 
gether with  a  Plan  for  a  Mental  Survey  of  an  Institution/'  J.  of 
Ed.  Psych.,  Vol.  VIII,  3  (1917),  220-238. 


SURVEYS  OF  SCHOOLS  47 

TABLE  8 
CLASSIFICATION  OF  CASES — NUMBERS 


School 

Very 
Bright 

Bright 

Average 

Back- 
ward 

Dull 

Total 

Ci. 

93 

127 

398 

78 

44 

740 

Ch. 

49 

75 

277 

94 

40 

535 

Cl. 

33 

77 

295 

88 

56 

549 

Cn. 

55 

72 

190 

51 

45 

413 

V. 

1 

9 

77 

25 

40 

152 

R. 

0 

2 

26 

22 

33 

83 

TABLE  9 
CLASSIFICATION  OF  CASES — PERCENTAGES 

Very  Back- 

School    Bright     Bright    Average     ward        Dull       Total 


Ci. 

12.6 

17.2 

53.7 

10.6 

5.9 

100.0 

Ch. 

9.2 

14.0 

51.7 

17.6 

7.5 

100.0 

Cl. 

6.0 

14.0 

53.9 

16.0 

10.1 

100.0 

Cn. 

13.3 

17.4 

46.0 

12.4 

10.9 

100.0 

V. 

0.7 

5.9 

50.6 

16.4 

26.3 

99.9 

R. 

0 

2.4 

31.4 

26.5 

39.8 

100.1 

93  children  are  classified  as  Very  Bright,  127  as 
Bright,  398  as  Average,  78  as  Backward,  and  44  as 
Dull,  making  a  total  of  740.  The  rest  of  the  table 
is  to  be  read  in  the  same  way. 

Table  9  shows  the  same  facts  expressed  in  per- 
centages, and  is  to  be  read  as  follows :—  In  school 
Ci  12.6  per  cent  of  the  740  pupils  tested  are  classi- 
fied as  Very  Bright,  17.2  per  cent  as  Bright,  and  so 
forth. 


48  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

These  tables  give  us  more  insight  into  the  com- 
position of  the  schools.  All  the  schools,  with  the 
exception  of  R,  show  the  largest  percentage  of  pu- 
pils in  the  Average  group,  and  all  of  these,  with  the 
exception  of  Cn,  show  50  per  cent  or  more  in  this 
group.  The  greatest  variation  among  the  schools  is 
in  the  Very  Bright  and  Dull  groups,  where  the 
greatest  variation  is  to  be  expected. 

This  classification  shows  us  more  detail  about  each 
school.  Ci  is  characterized  by  a  large  percentage  of 
very  bright  pupils,  as  we  would  expect  in  a  school 
situated  as  it  is.  Moreover,  there  is  a  high  per- 
centage of  bright  pupils  and  a  very  low  percentage 
of  dull  pupils. 

Cn  shows  a  high  percentage  of  very  bright  and 
bright  pupils,  representing  the  pupils  from  the  good 
district  from  which  it  draws.  It  also  shows  a  high 
percentage  of  dull  pupils  representing  the  poorer 
district  from  which  it  also  draws.  The  pupils  from 
this  district  as  a  rule  do  not  go  from  Cn  to  Ci,  and 
l^ence  they  do  not  affect  the  percentage  of  the  dull 
group  in  Ci. 

Ch  shows  a  fair  proportion  of  very  bright  pupils. 
Its  characteristic,  however,  is  a  very  large  percent- 
age of  backward  pupils,  representing  the  poorer  dis- 
trict from  which  it  draws  some  of  its  pupils. 

CI  shows  a  fairly  normal  distribution  with  a  slight 


SURVEYS  OF  SCHOOLS  49 

preponderance  in  the  dull  group.  It  lacks  its  due 
proportion  of  very  bright  pupils. 

The  village  school  is  shifted  very  much  towards 
the  lower  end  of  the  distribution.  It  possesses 
much  more  than  its  rightful  share  of  dull  pupils. 
It  is  woefully  lacking  in  very  bright  pupils. 

The  poverty  of  the  rural  school  is  shown  in  its 
lack  of  very  bright  and  bright  pupils  in  particular, 
but  also  in  its  relatively  small  percentage  of  aver- 
age pupils.  The  percentage  of  dull  pupils  is  larger 
than  the  percentage  of  any  other  group  in  that 
school.  The  percentage  of  backward  pupils  is  also 
very  large.  If  our  tests  represent  fairly  the  men- 
tality of  the  children,  and  if  the  mentality  of  the 
children  in  a  community  is  a  fair  index  of  the  men- 
tality of  the  community  as  a  whole,  then  the  mental- 
ity of  this  community  cannot  be  very  high. 

For  purposes  of  comparison,  again,  we  add  here 
the  classification  of  the  94  children  in  the  children's 
home : —  Very  Bright — 0  per  cent ;  Bright — 7.4  per 
cent;  Average — 24.5  per  cent;  Backward — 21.3  per 
cent;  Dull — 46.8  per  cent.  According  to  expecta- 
tion, this  group  of  children  shows  a  larger  percent- 
age of  dull  children  than  any  of  the  schools  tested. 
The  actual  percentage  of  feebleminded  and  border- 
line cases  in  this  children's  home,  as  diagnosed  by 
individual  examinations,  was  20.7  per  cent.  It  is 
well  to  note  that  by  "Dull"  we  do  not  mean  feeble- 


50  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

minded.  More  than  the  definitely  feebleminded  are 
included  in  the  Dull  group.  At  the  present  time  it 
would  not  seem  feasible  to  diagnose  feebleminded- 
ness by  means  of  these  survey  tests.  It  is  very 
probable  that  in  the  Dull  group  most,  if  not  all,  of 
the  feebleminded  cases  will  be  found. 

By  these  sample  surveys  of  schools  we  have  at- 
tempted to  show  what  may  be  done  at  present  with 
the  survey  tests.  They  will  give  us  a  convenient 
mental  index  for  a  whole  school  and  they  will  allow 
us  to  gain  some  insight  into  the  composition  of  the 
school  in  regard  to  the  mentality  of  the  children  at- 
tending the  school. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  SURVEY  TESTS  AND  OTHER  ESTIMATES  OF 
INTELLIGENCE 

Comparison  with  Estimates   of  Teachers. — The 

question  of  the  reliability  of  the  survey  tests  as  a 
measure  of  intelligence  may  be  examined  in  the  light 
of  their  agreement  or  disagreement  with  the  esti- 
mates of  the  pupils'  abilities  as  given  by  the  teach- 
ers. In  three  of  the  schools  the  teachers  were  asked 
to  rank  the  children  in  their  grades  in  order  of  in- 
telligence, and  in  all  cases  the  teachers  were  found 
willing  to  co-operate  in  the  work. 

It  was  impossible  and  impracticable  to  give  any 
detailed  explanation  as  to  what  is  meant  by  general 
intelligence.  Undoubtedly,  very  different  concepts 
of  general  intelligence  existed  in  the  minds  of  dif- 
ferent teachers.  Some  probably  had  a  fairly  good 
idea  as  to  the  psychologist's  conception  of  general 
intelligence,  whereas  others  would  scarcely  differen- 
tiate general  intelligence  from  ability  to  do  school 
work.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  we  should  not  ex- 
pect nor  desire  a  very  high  correlation  between  the 
ranking  of  the  children  on  the  survey  tests  and  the 

51 


52  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

ranking  of  the  children  by  the  teacher.  If  the 
teachers '  correlations  were  in  all  cases  very  high, 
this  would  denote  one  of  two  possibilities.  The 
first  would  be  that  the  teacher  had  a  very  accurate 
concept  of  general  intelligence  and  was  able,  with- 
out the  use  of  tests,  to  rank  her  pupils  accurately. 
In  this  case,  the  labor  involved  in  making  the  tests 
would  be  more  or  less  superfluous.  The  second  pos- 
sibility would  be  that  the  teacher  was  ranking  ac- 
cording to  school  knowledge  and  high  correlations 
in  that  case  would  mean  that  the  tests  were  testing 
school  knowledge  and  not  general  ability.  Uni- 
formly high  correlations  are,  therefore,  undesir- 
able. On  the  other  hand,  we  may  expect  great  vari- 
ations in  the  correlations  of  different  teachers,  vary- 
ing according  to  their  idea  of  general  intelligence 
and  according  to  their  insight  into  the  abilities  of 
their  pupils.  On  the  whole,  however,  we  should  ex- 
pect a  positive  correlation  of  a  fair  size,  since  the 
teachers  as  a  group  have  some  idea  as  to  what  gen- 
eral intelligence  means,  as  distinguished  from 
school  knowledge,  and  do  possess  some  ability  to 
rank  their  pupils  in  accordance  with  this  idea,  while 
abstracting  from  their  scholastic  performance. 

The  correlations  calculated  by  the  Spearman 
Foot-Eule  Method,  shown  in  Table  10,  seem  to  bear 
out  the  points  mentioned  in  the  discussion  above. 
The  table  shows  the  correlations  for  the  classes  in 


THE  SURVEY  TESTS  53 

TABLE  10 
CORRELATIONS — TEACHER'S  ESTIMATES  AND  SURVEY  TESTS 


Grade 

Ci 

School 
Ch 

Cl 

2a 

.76 

.69 

.77 

2b 

.28 

.44 

.52 

3a 

.60 

.62 

.35 

3b 

.34 

.75 

.32 

4a 

.38 

.14 

—  .19 

4b 

.59 

.51 

.73 

5a 

.44 

.75 

.37 

5bl 

.47 

.31 

.41 

5b2 

.  .  . 

.  .  . 

.14 

6a 

.71 

.54 

.62 

6b 

.47 

.23 

.44 

7a 

... 

.50 

7b 

—  .05 

8a 

.45 

8b 

.20 

Av.  r 

.50 

.50 

.37 

A.  D. 

.13 

.17 

.19 

Av.  r  for  all  classes  .  45 


54  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

three  schools.  Ci  and  Ch,  the  two  junior  high 
schools,  do  not  show  correlations  for  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades,  because  these  grades  are  con- 
ducted on  the  department  plan  and  it  was  impos- 
sible to  get  estimates  from  all  the  teachers  con- 
cerned. School  Ci  shows  an  average  r  for  ten  classes 
of  .50,  with  an  extreme  range  from  .28  to  .76. 
With  the  exception  of  2B  showing  a  correlation  of 
.28,  most  of  the  other  classes  show  a  fair  correla- 
tion. On  the  whole,  the  teachers  in  this  school 
might  be  classed  above  the  average  in  training  and 
intelligence.  As  we  have  stated  before  it  is  a  very 
desirable  school  in  a  very  desirable  district  and  nat- 
urally attracts  a  superior  type  of  teacher,  superior 
in  social  status,  not  necessarily  in  regard  to  teach- 
ing ability,  with  reference  to  which  the  present  in- 
vestigation has  no  concern.  Closer  inspection  of 
the  2B  grade  with  a  correlation  of  .28  shows  that 
the  teacher  ranked  second  a  ten-year-old  boy  who 
ranked  last  in  the  survey  tests.  A  ten-year-old  in 
the  second  grade  is  very  probably  not  a  child  of  high 
intelligence,  and  the  teacher  was  most  likely  influ- 
enced by  the  child's  knowledge  of  school  subjects. 
While  this  does  not  in  itself  explain  the  low  cor- 
relation, it  suggests  the  factors  that  are  at  work 
in  some  instances  tending  to  lower  the  correlations. 
School  Ch  shows  the  same  average  correlation  for 
all  the  classes  as  does  school  Ci,  although  the  aver- 


THE  SURVEY  TESTS  55 

age  deviation  is  somewhat  greater  as  also  is  the 
range  from  the  lowest,  .14,  to  the  highest,  .75.  There 
are  two  correlations  which  are  decidedly  low,  4A 
with  a  correlation  of  .14  and  6B  with  a  correlation 
of  .23.  In  grade  4A  we  find  an  eleven-year-old 
ranked  third  by  the  teacher  and  sixteenth  by  the 
tests  and  also  a  twelve-year-old  ranked  ninth  by  the 
teacher  and  fifteenth  by  the  tests,  showing  that  the 
age  of  the  child  tends  to  be  overlooked  by  the 
teacher  in  her  estimate  of  ability. 

The  average  of  the  correlations  by  classes  for 
school  Cl  is  .37,  a  lower  average  than  in  the  other 
two  schools.  As  we  stated  before,  the  school  is  in 
a  much  less  desirable  district  than  the  other  two 
schools,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  teachers  in  this 
school  are  on  the  average  not  as  well  educated  as 
the  teachers  in  the  other  two  schools.  It  was  the 
distinct  impression  of  the  writer  when  discussing 
the  results  of  the  survey  with  the  teachers  of  this 
school,  that  the  general  nature  of  the  work  of  meas- 
uring intelligence  was  not  nearly  so  well  understood 
by  them  as  by  the  teachers  in  the  other  two  schools. 
In  examining  the  correlations  we  note  for  the  first 
time  the  appearance  of  two  negative  correlations, 
namely  minus  .19  for  4A  and  minus  .05  for  7B.  In- 
quiry as  to  the  method  the  teachers  employed  in 
ranking  their  pupils  resulted  in  the  interesting  dis- 
covery that  4A  with  a  correlation  of  — .19  had  been 


56  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

ranked  by  a  substitute  teacher  during  a  short  ab- 
sence of  the  regular  teacher.  Furthermore,  the 
teacher  of  7B,  with  a  correlation  of  — .05,  said  that 
she  ranked  her  class  on  the  basis  of  their  school 
standing,  not  seeming  to  make  any  distinction  in 
her  own  mind  between  general  intelligence  and 
school  ability.  No  specific  reasons  for  the  low  cor- 
relations of  .14  in  5B  and  .20  in  8B,  apart  from  the 
general  neglect  to  consider  chronological  age,  were 
found. 

The  average  correlation  for  all  the  35  classes  of 
all  the  three  schools  is  .45.  It  seems  to  fulfill  our 
expectations  in  being  positive  and  fairly  high,  show- 
ing that  on  the  whole  there  is  some  agreement  be- 
tween the  teachers'  concept  of  general  intelligence 
and  the  abilities  measured  by  the  survey  tests. 
Again  the  wide  variation  between  different  teachers 
bears  out  the  contention  that  they  have  very  dif- 
ferent conceptions  as  to  general  intelligence,  rang- 
ing all  the  way  from  identity  with  school  ability  to 
something  which  probably  approximates  the  ordi- 
nary psychological  concept. 

Correlation  of  Survey  Tests  and  Yerkes  Scale.— 
Shortly  before  the  survey  tests  were  given  in  school 
Cn,  the  children  in  three  of  the  grades  had  been 
tested  by  the  Yerkes-Bridges  Point  Scale.  This  al- 
lows a  possibility  of  comparing  the  ranking  on  the 
survey  tests  with  the  ranking  on  the  Yerkes  Scale. 


THE  SURVEY  TESTS  57 

The  Yerkes  tests  were  for  the  most  part  given  by 
about  six  advanced  students  of  the  writer  and  the 
testing  is  not  offered  here  as  expert  testing.  Some 
error  is  bound  to  enter  in,  due  to  the  inexperience 
of  the  examiners  and  the  number  of  examiners  em- 
ployed. 

The  number  of  children  in  each  class  and  the  cor- 
relations by  the  Spearman  Foot-Eule  Method  are  as 
follows : — 

No.  of 
Grade  r.          Cases 

6B 29  37 

4B 59  34 

2B 71  27 

All  three  grades . .         .57  98 

The  correlation  for  the  total  98  cases  is  a  fair  cor- 
relation, considering  the  sources  of  error  that  may 
enter  into  any  individual's  rank  on  the  survey  tests. 
The  correlation  for  6B  is  rather  low  and  no  satis- 
factory explanation  offers  itself  at  present. 
Whether  there  is  any  significance  in  the  decrease  of 
the  correlation  as  we  go  from  the  younger  to  the 
older  children  is  not  obvious.  It  may  be  that  either 
the  Yerkes  Scale  or  the  survey  tests  or  both  become 
less  reliable  for  the  older  children,  i.  e.,  for  children 
of  ages  eleven  to  thirteen. 

These  correlations  merely  bear  out  the  point,  that 
we  have  emphasized  before,  that  for  individual  diag- 


58  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

noses  the  survey  tests  are  much  too  unreliable  and 
that  wherever  any  importance  attaches  to  the  diag- 
nosis of  the  individual,  some  scale  of  individual 
tests  should  be  used.  Children  will  be  found  who 
rank  fairly  low  on  the  survey  tests  and  high  on  the 
Yerkes.  They  may  have  been  lazy  or  indisposed  at 
the  time  the  survey  tests  were  given  and  have  re- 
fused their  best  cooperation,  something  which  the 
examiner  in  testing  a  class  of  children  will  be  unable 
to  detect.  Again,  a  few  rank  low  on  the  Yerkes  and 
high  on  the  survey  tests.  In  such  cases  the  child 
may  have  disobeyed  instructions  on  the  survey  tests 
and  continued  working  after  the  signal  to  stop  had 
been  given,  or  he  may  have  copied  from  a  neighbor, 
e.g.,  in  the  Word  Building  Test,  or  have  written 
the  words  as  the  examiner  read  them  in  the  Eote 
Memory  Test,  and  so  on.  These  sources  of  error 
decrease  the  reliability  of  our  survey  tests  for  pur- 
poses of  individual  diagnosis. 

The  difference  between  the  Yerkes  Scale  and  the 
survey  tests  is  further  brought  out  by  a  distribu- 
tion into  five  groups  according  to  each  test.  A  five- 
fold classification  has  been  made  in  each  case  and  is 
as  follows : — 

V.  Br.    Br.  N.orAV.   B.  F.M.orD. 

Yerkes,  C.M. A 34        30          24         10  0 

Yerkes,  3%  Hypoth.      20        36          32         10  0 

Survey  tests 9        15          53         13  8 


THE  SURVEY  TESTS  59 

A  close  agreement  particularly  at  the  two  ends  of 
the  distribution  is  not  to  be  expected,  since  the  group 
dull  on  the  survey  tests  is  'meant  to  be  a  larger 
group  than  the  group  of  Feebleminded,  as  also  with 
the  very  bright  group  at  the  upper  end. 

The  number  in  the  very  bright  group  according 
to  the  Yerkes  Scale  seems  disproportionately  large, 
suggesting,  as  has  been  noted  by  other  workers,  that 
the  norms  for  the  Yerkes  Scale  are  too  low  or  that 
our  method  of  diagnosis  is  too  lenient.  Diagnosing 
by  the  Three  Per  Cent  Hypothesis  14  corrects  to  some 
extent  the  great  number  of  very  bright  cases.  That 
the  number  in  the  very  bright  group  seems  dispro- 
portionately large  is  obvious  when  we  call  to  mind 
that  the  Three  Per  Cent  Hypothesis  is  based  on  the 
assumption  of  three  per  cent  very  bright,  while  the 
survey  test  group  of  very  bright  is  based  upon  the 
assumption  of  ten  per  cent  very  bright.  We  should 
expect  fewer  very  bright  cases  according  to  the 
Yerkes  than  according  to  the  survey  tests.  The 
same  considerations  affect  the  feebleminded  or  dull 
group,  and  here  our  expectations  are  borne  out  by 
finding  a  greater  number  in  this  group  for  the  sur- 
vey tests  than  for  the  Yerkes  Scale. 

This  variation  in  the  distribution  of  the  cases  ac- 

14  Pintner,  R.  and  Paterson,  D.  G.,  "A  Psychological  Basis  for 
the  Diagnosis  of  Feeblemindedness,"  /.  of  Criminal  Law  and 
Criminology,  Vol.  VII,  1  (1916),  32-55. 


60  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

cording  to  the  Yerkes  Scale  and  the  survey  tests  in- 
dicates that  either  the  norms  for  the  Yerkes  Scale 
are  too  low  or  that  the  norms  for  the  survey  tests 
are  too  high. 

Relation  between  the  Survey  Tests  and  the  Binet 
Scale. — A  comparison  of  48  individuals  tested  by 
the  Binet  Scale  (Goddard's  Eevision)  and  the  sur- 
vey tests  will  give  further  insight  into  the  reliabil- 
ity of  the  tests.15  The  cases  were  taken  individu- 
ally so  that  very  probably  more  reliable  results  were 
obtained  than  in  the  usual  class  test.  All  these  48 
cases  were  pupils  in  a  school  for  defective  children. 
The  48  cases  were  distributed  in  chronological  age 
as  follows: — 

Between  ages  11  and  14. ...  14  cases 

«  15  "  19....  16  " 
«  «  20  "  24....  8  " 
"  "  25  "29....  5  " 
a  "  33  "39....  5  " 

Total 48  cases 

In  comparing  the  results  of  the  survey  tests  with 
the  Binet  ages  of  a  group  that  differed  so  widely  in 
mental  age  as  determined  by  the  Binet  Scale,  as  this 
group  did,  it  was  deemed  best  to  find  the  median 
mental  age  on  the  survey  tests,  instead  of  the  per- 

15  The  writer  wishes  to  thank  the  Psychological  Department  of 
the  Vineland  Training  School  and  in  particular  Miss  Lucile  Boy- 
Ian,  who  gave  the  tests,  for  their  kind  cooperation  in  this  work. 


THE  SURVEY  TESTS  61 

centile.  In  this  way  the  findings  of  the  two  tests 
could  be  compared  directly  with  each  other,  and, 
furthermore,  our  percentiles  are  not  reliable  above 
age  fifteen  and  a  great  many  of  the  cases  were  above 
that  age. 

In  computing  the  mental  age  the  medians  or  50 
percentiles  were  used.  The  child 's  score  on  each 
test  was  given  the  age  to  the  median  score  of  which 
it  corresponded,  interpolation  between  ages  being 
used.  The  median  of  the  six  mental  ages  thus  ob- 
tained was  taken  as  the  mental  age  of  the  child. 

The  distribution  of  the  cases  by  mental  age  as 
computed  by  the  Binet  Scale  and  by  the  survey  tests 
is  shown  in  Table  11.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  range 
in  mental  age  is  much  greater  on  the  survey  tests 
than  on  the  Binet  Scale.  The  limit  of  the  Binet 
Scale  is  age  eleven,  but  some  of  the  cases  on  the  sur- 
vey tests  show  a  median  mental  age  of  many  years 
above  age  eleven.  The  median  mental  age  by  the 
Binet  is  9.3,  and  by  the  survey  tests  9.05.  The 
closeness  of  the  medians  shows  the  similarity  of  the 
two  methods  in  estimating  the  intelligence  of  the 
group,  while  the  range  of  mental  age  as  shown  by 
the  distribution  indicates  some  difference  in  the 
classification  of  the  individuals  within  the  group. 

The  correlation  between  the  ranks  of  the  cases 
on  the  two  methods  by  the  Spearman  Foot-Eule 
Method  is  r  =  .66,  naturally  a  fairly  high  correla- 


62  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

TABLE  11 
MENTAL  AGE  BY  BINET  SCALE  AND  BY  SURVEY  TESTS 


Mental  Age 

Number  of 

Cases 

—5 

Binet 

Survey 
1 

5 

.... 

2 

6 

1 

3 

7 

6 

7 

8 

11 

11 

9 

15 

4 

10 

12 

5 

11 

3 

4 

12 

.... 

4 

13 

.... 

1 

14 

.... 

3 

15 



1 

16 



.... 

17 

.... 

1 

17  + 

.... 

1 

Total 

48 

48 

Med.  M.A. 

9.3 

9.05 

THE  SURVEY  TESTS  63 

tion  because  we  are  dealing  with  a  fairly  hetero- 
geneous group. 

There  were  22  cases  that  tested  higher  on  the 
survey  tests  than  on  the  Binet;  two  tested  exactly 
the  same  on  both  scales :  and  24  tested  higher  on  the 
Binet  than  on  the  survey  tests.  The  average  dif- 
ference of  the  22  testing  higher  on  the  survey  tests 
was  +  2.3  years,  while  the  average  difference  of  the 
24  testing  higher  on  the  Binet  Scale  was  +  1.1  year. 
This  shows  that  the  survey  tests  offer  a  greater 
range  and  particularly  in  the  upward  direction.  If 
the  individual  has  ability,  he  can  show  it  by  his  per- 
formance on  the  survey  tests  and  attain  a  mental 
age  five  or  six  years  above  the  Binet  age. 

This  comparison  of  the  Binet  Scale  and  the  survey 
tests  goes  to  show  as  the  other  comparisons  have 
done,  that  we  must  not  place  too  much  reliability  on 
the  survey  tests  for  individual  purposes,  but  that 
for  groups  they  give  a  fairly  accurate  measure  of 
mentality. 


CHAPTER  VI 

EDUCATIONAL  ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  MENTAL 
ABILITY 

A  FUTURE  use  of  the  mental  survey  will  unques- 
tionably be  a  more  accurate  evaluation  of  the  edu- 
cational accomplishment  of  our  schools.  This  will 
be  one  of  the  most  practical  applications  of  the 
method  of  the  mental  survey  which  we  have  de- 
scribed in  this  book.  At  the  present  time,  however, 
we  can  merely  indicate  the  method.  Results  of  any 
importance  we  have  not  yet  had  time  to  collect. 

If  it  is  true,  as  it  would  seem  to  be,  that  the  vari- 
ous grades  in  a  school  to  some  slight  extent,  and  the 
various  schools  in  a  community  to  some  consider- 
able extent,  differ  in  mentality,  then  it  would  be  log- 
ical to  demand  progress  in  educational  achievement 
in  proportion  to  the  mentality  possessed  by  the 
grade  or  school.  It  is  obviously  unfair  to  a  30  per 
cent  school  to  expect  50  per  cent  work.  And  con- 
versely, a  50  per  cent  school  should  be  doing  50  per 
cent  work,  or  else  it  is  marking  time  and  wasting 
good  material.  Our  mental  tests  give  us  a  measure 
of  the  raw  material  with  which  the  teacher  has  to 
deal.  Knowing  the  measure  of  the  raw  material  the 

64 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  ABILITY  65 

teacher  should  see  to  it  that  the  raw  material  is  ef- 
fectively utilized.  To  take  an  example  for  purposes 
of  illustration.  If  the  median  mental  index  of  a 
third  grade  is  about  50,  then  the  median  educational 
index  for  the  grade,  founded  on  the  ability  of  third 
grades  in  general,  should  also  be  about  50.  In 
other  words,  average  third  graders  should  be  doing 
average  third  grade  work.  If  the  educational  index 
of  the  grade  is  below  50,  then  either  the  teaching  in 
the  school  is  poor  or  the  children  are  too  far  ad- 
vanced for  their  age.  This  latter  fact  can  be  de- 
termined by  the  average  age  of  the  class.  If  the 
educational  index  is  above  50,  then  the  teaching  is 
exceptionally  good,  i.  e.,  better  than  median  third 
grade  teaching,  or  else  the  children  are  too  old  for 
their  grade  and  should  really  be  doing  fourth  grade 
work.  The  evaluation  of  educational  achievement 
in  terms  of  the  mentality  of  the  child  will  raise  vital 
questions  in  regard  to  teaching  and  to  school  ad- 
ministration. 

All  this  presupposes  a  standardization  of  our 
school  subjects  in  terms  of  percentiles  of  grade  abil- 
ity. Just  as  we  have  standardized  our  mental  tests 
in  terms  of  percentiles  for  each  age,  in  the  same 
way  each  important  subject  in  the  school  course  will 
have  to  be  standardized  for  each  grade.  With  our 
present  equipment  of  tests  for  the  principal  school 
subjects,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  test  enough 


66  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

cases  in  order  to  compute  percentile  norms  for  each 
grade.  We  have  worked  to  some  extent  with  two 
standard  tests,  and  although  the  norms  are  by  no 
means  adequate,  we  will  give  the  results  more  for  the 
sake  of  illustrating  the  method  than  for  the  value 
of  the  results  themselves. 

Trabue  Language  Scale  B  was  one  of  the  educa- 
tional tests  used.  In  one  sense  of  the  wrord  the 
Trabue  Language  Scales  cannot  be  called  educa- 
tional tests,  because  ability  to  comprehend  and 
handle  language  is  not  entirely  dependent  upon 
school  instruction.  So  much  language  is  learned 
from  the  extra-school  environment.  Subjects  such 
as  arithmetic,  spelling,  grammar,  history,  are  much 
more  dependent  upon  school  instruction.  Neverthe- 
less, the  results  we  have  collected  with  the  Trabue 
Language  Scale  B  will  at  least  serve  to  illustrate 
the  method. 

Table  12  gives  the  percentile  norms  for  each 
grade.  This  standardization  is  far  from  complete 
and  we  do  not  -pretend  that  the  number  of  children 
is  at  all  representative  of  school  children  in  gen- 
eral. The  table  is  to  be  read  as  follows: —  The 
best  score  in  the  first  grade  is  13,  the  score  of  the 
90  per  cent  child  is  8,  that  of  the  80  per  cent  child  is 
6,  and  so  on  down  the  first  vertical  column.  The 
number  of  first  grade  children  tested  was  45.  To 
find  a  child's  percentile  ability  on  the  test,  find  the 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  ABILITY  67 

TABLE  12 
TRABUE  LANGUAGE  SCALE  B — PERCENTILES 

Grade         I      II    III    IV     V     VI  VII VIII  IX  u^yr" 

Percentile 

100  13  10  15  16  19  16  19  20  19  20 
90  8  8  11  12  14  14  15  16  17  19 
80  6  7  10  12  13  14  14  15  16  19 
70  6  6  9  11  12  13  14  15  15  19 
60  668  10  12  13  13  14  15  I8- 
60 4  6  8  10  11  12  13  13  14  18 
40  4  4  7  9  11  12  12  13  14  17 
30  2  4  7  8  10  12  12  13  13  17 
20  2  4  6  8  9  11  11  12  13  16 
10  0  2  6  6  8  10  10  11  11  15 
0  000258658  12 
No.  of  Cases  45  116  184  177  204  154  186  186  144  46 


68  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

column  for  his  grade,  run  down  the  column  until 
his  score  is  found  and  then  move  across  horizontally 
to  the  first  column  on  the  left  to  find  his  percentile. 
This  denotes  his  ability  with  reference  to  children 
of  his  grade  in  general. 

Grades  2  to  6  in  school  Ci  and  grades  2  to  8  in 
school  Cl  were  tested  with  the  Trabue  Scale  B  about 
the  same  time  that  they  were  tested  with  the  survey 
tests.  The  score  obtained  by  each  child  was  turned 
into  a  percentile  value  by  means  of  Table  12  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  grade  of  the  child.  For  example, 
a  child  in  the  second  grade  scoring  4  was  given  a 
percentile  of  30,  because  4  is  equal  to  a  30  percen- 
tile performance  for  second  grade  children.  In  all 
cases,  as  in  this  example,  where  the  score  is  the 
same  for  more  than  one  percentile,  the  middle  point 
between  the  percentiles  having  the  same  score  was 
taken.  In  this  way  we  have  a  percentile  expressing 
achievement  in  language  for  each  child.  The  me- 
dian of  these  percentiles  for  each  grade  gives  us  an 
index  of  achievement  for  each  grade  in  terms  of  the 
corresponding  grades  for  school  children  in  gen- 
eral (presuming  our  standardization  is  complete). 

Table  13  shows  the  mental  index  and  the  language 
index  for  each  grade  for  the  two  schools  in  ques- 
tion. It  is  to  be  interpreted  as  follows : —  In  school 
Cl  in  grade  2B  the  percentile  for  language  achieve- 
ment is  30  and  the  mental  index  is  32 ;  in  grade  2 A 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  ABILITY  69 

TABLE  13 

LANGUAGE  ACHIEVEMENT  COMPARED  WITH  MENTALITY 


Grade 

School 

Cl. 

School 

Ci. 

2b 

Language 

30 

Mentality 

32 

Language 

Mentality 

2a 

60 

42 

45. 

23 

3b 

35 

39 

58 

50 

3a 

50 

20 

55 

42 

4b 

40 

42 

55 

55 

4a 

55 

42 

70 

62 

5bl 

45 

59 

65 

61 

5b2 

45 

39 

5a 

65 

41 

65 

66 

6b 

53 

66 

40 

60 

6a 

40 

51 

65 

66 

7b 

35 

45 

.  .    . 

7a 

55 

64 

.. 

8b 

45 

66 

8a 

55 

72 

Whole  School 

50 

44.5 

60 

58.5 

70  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

the  language  index  is  60  and  the  mental  index  42, 
and  so  on.  Presuming  that  our  standards  are  ac- 
curate, we  should  say  that  in  school  Cl  grades  2A, 
3A,  4A  and  5A  are  doing  excellent  language  work  in 
view  of  the  mentality  of  the  pupils  in  those  grades. 
Grades  2B,  3B,  4B,  5B,  and  perhaps  7A  are  doing 
about  what  is  to  be  expected  considering  the  men- 
tality of  the  pupils  that  make  up  those  grades.  But, 
in  grades  5B,  6B,  6A,  7B,  8B  and  8A  the  language 
work  is  below  expectation  considering  the  mental- 
ity of  the  children  in  those  grades.  Similarly,  in 
school  Ci  we  should  pick  out  grades  2A  and  3A  as 
doing  excellent  language  work,  and  single  out  grade 
6B  as  doing  exceptionally  poor  work.  Lastly,  we 
may  compare  the  language  achievement  and  the 
mentality  of  the  whole  school.  Both  schools  show 
language  achievement  slightly  in  excess  of  mental- 
ity, but  not  to  any  marked  extent.  School  Ci  is  do- 
ing in  language  just  about  what  it  ought  to  be  doing. 
School  Cl  is  a  little  above  expectation.  Further- 
more, by  subtracting  the  mental  index  from  the  lan- 
guage index,  we  find  that  school  Ci  has  an  excess  of 
+  1.5  and  school  Cl  of  +  5.5.  School  Cl  is  doing 
slightly  better  language  work  than  school  Ci,  if  we 
consider  the  mentality  of  the  pupils  with  which 
school  Cl  has  to  deal.  Ci  is  absolutely  better  than 
Cl,  and  this  is  all  that  our  educational  surveys  up 
to  the  present  time  have  been  able  to  measure. 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  ABILITY  71 

Eelatively,  school  Cl  is  better  than  Ci.  This  is  a 
more  just  and  a  more  accurate  measurement  of  the 
language  instruction  given  in  school  Cl. 

A  beginning  of  the  same  kind  of  evaluation  in 
arithmetic  has  been  made.  Tables  14  to  18  inclu- 
sive give  the  percentiles  for  the  four  operations 
(speed  and  accuracy)  as  measured  by  the  Courtis 
Arithmetic  Tests.  We  convert  the  scores  of  each 
child  into  percentiles  according  to  his  grade,  and 
from  the  eight  percentiles  so  obtained  arrive  at  a 
median  percentile  expressing  his  arithmetical 
achievement.  The  median  of  these  arithmetic  in- 
dices gives  a  measure  of  the  arithmetical  ability  of 
the  class  or  school.  Inspection  of  the  tables  reveals 
the  great  number  of  cases  in  which  the  scores  for 
contiguous  percentiles  are  the  same.  This  is  owing 
to  the  nature  of  the  test,  which  does  not  allow  a 
wide  range  of  scoring.  In  all  probability  some  other 
arithmetic  test,  which  allows  a  wider  range  of  scor- 
ing, would  be  preferable  for  such  survey  purposes 
as  we  are  describing. 

Only  one  of  the  schools  for  which  mental  indices 
are  at  hand  was  given  the  Courtis  Arithmetic  test. 
This  is  school  Cl  and  we  show  in  Table  19  the  arith- 
metic indices  for  each  grade  and  for  the  whole  school 
contrasted  with  the  mental  indices.  Without  going 
into  a  detailed  analysis,  we  note  that  on  the  whole 
the  arithmetic  index  is  below  the  mental  index  in 


72  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

TABLE  14 
COURTIS  ARITHMETIC  TESTS,  SERIES  B — PERCENTILES 

Grade  IV 


Addition 

Subtraction     Multiplication 

Percentile 

100 

Attempts 

12 

Rights      Attempts 

12          15 

Rights       Attempts 

12          13 

Rights 
11 

90 

8 

6 

8 

7 

7 

5 

80 

7 

4 

7 

5 

6 

4 

70 

6 

3 

6 

4 

5 

3 

60 

5 

2 

5 

3 

5 

2 

50 

5 

2 

5 

2 

4 

2 

40 

4 

1 

4 

1 

4 

1 

30 

4 

1 

4 

1 

3 

1 

20 

3 

0 

3 

0 

3 

0 

10 

3 

0 

3 

0 

2 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

No.  of  Cases  439   439   439   439   439   439 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  ABILITY  73 

TABLE  15 

COUKTIS  ARITHMETIC  TESTS,  SERIES  B — PERCENTILES 

Grade  V 


Addi- 
tion 

Sub- 
traction 

Multi- 
plication 

Divi- 
sion 

Percentile 

100 

Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights 

14       13       17       12       13       11       14      13 

90 

9 

7 

9 

8 

8 

6 

8 

6 

80 

8 

5 

8 

7 

7 

5 

6 

5 

70 

7 

4 

8 

6 

6 

5 

5 

4 

60 

6 

3 

7 

5 

6 

4 

5 

3 

50 

6 

3 

7 

4; 

6 

3 

4 

2 

40 

5 

2 

6 

3 

5 

3 

4 

2 

30 

5 

2 

6 

3 

5 

2 

3 

1 

20 

4 

1 

5 

2 

4 

1 

3 

0 

10 

3 

0 

4 

1 

3 

1 

2 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

No.  of  Cases  460  460  460  460  460  460  460  460 


74  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

TABLE  16 
COURTIS  ARITHMETIC  TESTS,  SERIES  B — PERCENTILES 

Grade  VI 


Addi- 
tion 

Sub- 
traction 

Multi- 
plication 

Divi- 
sion 

Percentile 

100 

Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights 

15    L14       18       16       18       12       15       14 

90 

9 

7 

11 

9 

10 

8 

9 

8 

80 

8 

6 

10 

8 

8 

6 

8 

7 

70 

•    8 

5 

9 

7 

8 

6 

7 

6 

60 

7 

4 

8 

6 

7 

5 

6 

5 

50 

6 

3 

8 

6 

6 

4 

5 

4 

40 

6 

3 

7 

5 

6 

4 

5 

3 

30 

5 

2 

7 

4 

5 

3 

4 

3 

20 

5 

1 

6 

3 

5 

2 

4 

2 

10 

4 

1 

5 

2 

4 

1 

3 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

No.  of  Cases  419  419  419  419  419  419  419  419 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  ABILITY  75 

TABLE  17 
COURTIS  ARITHMETIC  TESTS,  SERIES  B — PERCENTILES 

Grade  VII 


Addi- 
tion 

Sub- 
traction 

Multi- 
plication 

Divi- 
sion 

Percentile 

100 

Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights 

17       16       21      20       15       12       22      22 

90 

11 

9 

14 

12 

10 

8 

12 

11 

80 

10 

7 

12 

10 

9 

7 

10 

9 

70 

9 

6 

11 

9 

8 

6 

9 

8 

60 

8 

5 

10 

8 

8 

5 

8 

7 

50 

7 

4 

9 

7 

7 

4 

7 

6 

40 

7 

3 

8 

6 

6 

4 

6 

5 

30 

6 

2 

8 

6 

6 

3 

6 

4 

20 

5 

2 

7 

4 

5 

3 

5 

3 

10 

4 

1 

6 

4 

4 

2 

4 

2 

0 

1 

0 

3 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

No.  of  Cases  253  253  253  253  253  253  253  253 


76  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

TABLE  18 
COURTIS  ARITHMETIC  TESTS,  SERIES  B — PERCENTILES 

Grade  VIII 


Addi- 
tion 

Sub- 
traction 

Multi- 
plication 

Divi- 
sion 

Percentile 

100 

Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights  Attempts  Rights 

16       15       20      17       14       14       16       16 

90 

10 

8 

13 

11 

11 

8 

12 

11 

80 

9 

6 

12 

10 

10 

7 

10 

9 

70 

8 

5 

11 

9 

9 

6 

9 

8 

60 

8 

4 

11 

8 

8 

5 

8 

7 

50 

7 

3 

10 

7 

8 

5 

8 

6 

40 

7 

3 

9 

6 

7 

4 

7 

6 

30 

6 

2 

8 

5 

7 

4 

6 

5 

20 

6 

2 

8 

4 

6 

3 

6 

4 

10 

5 

1 

6 

3 

5 

2 

5 

3 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

2 

0 

1 

0 

No.  of  Cases  263  263  263  263  263  263  263  263 


ACCOMPLISHMENT  AND  ABILITY  77 

TABLE  19 
ARITHMETIC  ABILITY  COMPARED  WITH  MENTALITY 


School  Cl." 

Grade 

4b 

Arithmetic 

32.5 

Mentality 

42 

4a 

35.0 

42 

5bl 

32.5 

59 

5b2 

45.0 

39 

5a 

35.0 

41 

6b 

33.75 

66 

6a 

33.75 

51 

7b 

47.5 

45 

7a 

55.0 

64 

8b 

53.75 

66 

8a 

52.5 

72 

Whole  School 

40 

44.5 

78  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

most  grades.  We  note,  also,  that  the  arithmetic  in- 
dex for  the  whole  school,  40,  is  slightly  below  the 
mental  index  of  the  whole  school,  44.5.  Our  judg- 
ment would,  therefore,  be  that  the  school  as  a  whole 
is  not  achieving  quite  as  much  as  it  ought  to  achieve 
in  arithmetic.  The  difference  between  the  two  in- 
dices is  slight,  and  we  do  not  yet  know  how  much 
weight  should  be  attached  to  a  difference  of  this 
magnitude.  Again,  we  may  compare  the  arithmetic 
with  the  language  index  and  note  that  the  school 
shows  superior  achievement  in  language  as  com- 
pared with  arithmetic. 

We  have  given  these  results  to  show  the  method 
of  evaluation  of  educational  achievement  in  terms 
of  mentality.  The  standardizations  of  the  Courtis 
Arithmetic  Scale  and  of  Trabue  Scale  B  are  by  no 
means  adequate  for  the  conclusions  we  have  drawn. 
We  believe,  however,  that  in  the  future  this  kind  of 
evaluation  will  be  insisted  upon.  The  evaluation  of 
educational  achievement  to  be  just  and  accurate 
must  be  made  with  due  regard  to  the  mentality  of 
the  pupil. 


PAET  II 

A  GUIDE  FOE  THE  USE  OF  THE  SUEVEY 

TESTS 


CHAPTER  VII 
GIVING  THE  TESTS 

THE  six  survey  tests  have  been  described  in  Chap- 
ter II,  in  which  place  the  reader  will  also  find  pic- 
tures of  the  tests.  In  this  chapter  the  procedure  of 
giving  the  tests  will  be  explained. 

If  a  large  school  is  to  be  tested,  it  is  well  for  the 
investigator  to  have  some  assistants  to  help  in  giv- 
ing the  tests,  so  that  the  whole  school  may  be  ex- 
amined during  the  same  day,  and  thus  avoid  any 
discussion  of  the  tests  among  the  children.  If  as- 
sistants are  employed,  it  is  imperative  to  drill  them 
beforehand  on  the  method  of  procedure  in  giving 
the  tests.  The  writer  has  always  insisted  upon  the 
assistants  rehearsing  the  procedure  before  himself 
and  the  other  assistants  so  that  nothing  may  be  left 
to  chance  when  the  tests  are  actually  being  given. 
It  is  well  to  have  an  estimate  of  the  number  of  chil- 
dren in  each  class  to  be  tested,  so  that  the  requisite 
number  of  blanks  of  each  test  may  be  tied  together 
in  bundles  for  each  room  as  they  will  be  needed.  If 
the  school  is  a  large  one,  and  several  assistants  are 
to  be  used  in  giving  the  tests,  it  is  best  to  have  the 

81 


82  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

number  of  the  room  for  each  class,  and  to  assign 
definite  rooms  to  each  assistant.  All  this  will  help 
to  save  time  and,  what  is  perhaps  more  important, 
to  make  the  conduct  of  the  examination  proceed 
more  smoothly,  and  thereby  avoid  unnecessary  dis- 
location of  the  routine  work  of  the  school.  Teachers 
and  pupils  will  be  in  a  much  better  frame  of  mind, 
if  things  go  smoothly,  than  if  things  are  disorderly 
and  haphazard. 

When  the  examiner  enters  the  room  he  should 
make  a  few  remarks  to  the  pupils  in  order  to  re- 
move any  fear  or  misunderstanding  on  their  part. 
He  should  say  that  what  he  is  going  to  ask  them  to 
do  is  not  an  examination,  that  he  is  not  going  to  ex- 
amine their  school  work,  but  that  he  is  going  to  give 
them  some  interesting  and  amusing  things  to  do  (it 
is  well  to  avoid  the  use  of  the  word  "test")*  to  see 
how  well  they  can  remember  and  to  see  how  quick 
they  are.  He  may  tell  them  that  these  same  things 
have  been  given  to  many  other  schools  and  that  they 
should  all  try  to  do  their  best.  These  preliminary 
remarks  should  be  brief  or  lengthy  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  case.  As  soon  as  the  examiner  feels 
himself  en  rapport  with  the  class,  as  soon  as  the 
class  is  at  perfect  ease,  he  may  go  on  to  the  testing 
proper. 

In  timing  the  tests,  use  a  stop  watch,  if  possible. 
If  not,  use  the  second  hand  of  your  watch,  marking 


GIVING  THE  TESTS  83 

down  when  you  begin  and  every  time  the  second 
hand  comes  round  to  this  place.  You  cannot  read 
the  time  accurately  by  using  the  minute  hand  only. 
The  time  for  all  the  tests,  with  the  exception  of  the 
first,  must  be  accurately  kept. 

See  that  every  child  is  provided  with  a  pencil. 

EOTE  MEMORY  TEST 

See  that  every  child  is  provided  with  a  blank  sheet 
of  paper.  The  paper  may  be  supplied  by  the  school 
or  by  the  examiner.16  Tell  the  children  to  write 
their  name,  age  and  grade  on  the  top  of  the  sheet. 
The  age  asked  for  is  the  age  last  birthday.  In  all 
this  work  this  is  the  age  that  has  been  used,  because 
this  is  the  age  best  known  to  children  and  the  one 
that  they  ordinarily  use.  Confusion  is  sure  to  arise 
if  the  age  at  the  nearest  birthday  is  demanded. 

Then  say  something  to  this  effect,  "I  am  going 
to  see  how  well  you  can  remember  things.  I  shall 
read  out  some  words  keeping  my  hand  raised  up  like 
this  while  I  am  reading.  After  I  have  stopped  read- 
ing the  words,  I  shall  put  my  hand  down  like  this, 
and  as  soon  as  you  see  my  hand  go  down,  write 
down  on  your  paper  all  the  words  I  have  read  just 
exactly  in  the  same  order  as  I  have  read  them.  Now 

16 1  have  tried  supplying  uniform  sheets  of  paper  for  this  test, 
but  I  have  abandoned  it  because  it  merely  adds  to  the  bulk  of  test 
material  to  be  carried  to  the  school.  Paper  supplied  by  the 
school  is  quite  satisfactory. 


84  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

suppose  I  were  to  read  these  words  'dog,  flower, 
pencil,'  then  as  soon  as  you  saw  my  hand  go  down, 
you  would  write  on  your  paper  like  this  (using  the 
blackboard  to  illustrate)  'dog,  flower,  pencil'  (all 
in  the  same  line).  Suppose  now  you  forgot  the 
word  'flower'  (erasing  the  word),  how  would  you 
let  me  know  that  you  knew  there  ought  to  be  a  word 
in  between  'dog'  and  'pencil'?  (Someone  in  the 
class  should  be  allowed  to  answer  the  question  if  pos- 
sible.) Yes,  put  a  line  to  show  where  you  have  left 
out  a  word.  I  shall  try  to  say  the  words  as  clearly 
as  possible,  but  if  you  should  not  understand  a  word, 
do  not  interrupt  the  others  by  asking  what  it  is. 
Just  try  to  write  down  what  you  think  I  said.  Try 
to  remember  as  many  words  as  possible  and  try  to 
write  them  down  in  the  right  order.  As  soon  as 
you  have  written  the  words,  sit  back  in  your  seats, 
so  that  I  may  know  when  you  have  all  finished  and 
are  ready  for  the  next  set.  Now  does  everybody  un- 
derstand? Does  anyone  want  to  ask  any  ques- 
tions? Get  ready  now."  The  examiner  then  pro- 
ceeds with  the  test  reading  the  words  with  as  clear 
an  enunciation  as  possible  at  the  rate  of  one  per  sec- 
ond or  a  trifle  slower.  Never  repeat  a  group  of 
words  or  a  single  word. 
The  words  are: 

1.  street,  ink,  lamp. 

2.  spoon,  horse,  chair,  stone. 


GIVING  THE  TESTS  85 

3.  ground,  clock,  boy,  chalk,  book. 

4.  desk,  milk,  hand,  card,  floor,  cat. 

5.  ball,  cup,  glass,  hat,  fork,  pole,  cloud. 

6.  coat,  girl,  house,  salt,  glove,  watch,  box,  mat. 
After  the  children  have  finished  the  last  set  of 

words,  have  the  children  sitting  in  the  back  row 
come  forward  and  collect  the  papers. 

DIGIT-SYMBOL,  TEST 

With  grades  four  and  above,  it  is  sufficient  to  ex- 
plain the  test  by  holding  a  test  sheet  up  in  front  of 
the  class.  With  grades  three  and  below  a  black- 
board demonstration  is  best.  Say  something  to  this 
effect, 1 1  Here  are  nine  circles  at  the  top  of  the  paper. 
In  each  of  these  circles  there  are  numbers  from  one 
to  nine  and  in  each  circle  there  is  a  little  sign  that 
belongs  to  the  number.  Each  number  has  its  sign. 
Here  below  the  circles  are  rows  of  numbers  and  for 
each  number  there  is  a  blank  space.  There  are  five 
numbers  and  five  blank  spaces  on  each  line.  Here 
is  a  number  6.  What  would  you  put  in  tho  blank 
space  1"  (Answer — the  sign  that  belongs  to  six.) 
And  so  on  until  the  class  as  a  whole  understands 
the  procedure.  With  young  children  it  is  well  to 
draw  on  the  board  the  nine  circles  with  the  digits 
and  symbols  and  also  a  sample  line  or  two  of  five 
numbers  and  five  little  squares  and  to  have  them 
come  to  the  board  and  actually  fill  in  the  blanks. 


86  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

Give  them  every  possible  chance  to  understand  be- 
fore the  test  starts.  "Now  when  I  say,  'Get  ready, 
go/  you  are  to  turn  your  papers  over  at  the  word 
go  and  fill  in  as  many  as  you  can  for  five  minutes. 
When  I  say  'Stop,'  you  must  stop  at  once.  Wo 
want  to  see  who  can  fill  in  the  most. ' ' 

Distribute  the  papers  and  start  the  test.  Use  a 
stop  watch,  if  possible.  If  you  use  an  ordinary 
watch,  use  the  second  hand.  You  cannot  keep  ac- 
curate time  by  using  the  minute  hand.  Further- 
more, if  you  use  th^  second  hand,  jot  down  the  time 
when  you  start  the  test,  say  at  40  seconds,  and  then 
keep  your  eye  on  the  watch  and  mark  down  every 
time  that  the  second  hand  comes  around  to  40  until 
the  five  minute  period  is  completed.  Do  not  trust 
to  your  memory.  If  you  do  not  keep  accurate  time, 
your  test  will  be  valueless.  If  a  child  finishes  before 
the  time  limit,  note  the  time  at  which  he  finished  and 
mark  this  on  his  test  paper.  This  applies  to  all 
the  other  time  limit  tests. 

At  the  end  of  the  time,  say  "Stop,"  and  see  that 
every  child  stops  working  promptly.  Have  the 
children  turn  over  their  papers  and  write  their 
name,  age  and  grade  on  the  back.  This  prevents 
children  from  going  on  working  after  the  signal  for 
stopping  has  been  given.  Have  the  children  collect 
the  papers  as  soon  as  they  have  written  their  name, 
etc. 


GIVING  THE  TESTS  87 

While  the  children  are  working  on  this  test,  time 
can  be  saved  by  distributing  the  requisite  number 
of  test  blanks  for  the  next  test  for  each  row  in  the 
class.  When  the  time  for  distributing  these  blanks 
conies,  the  children  on  the  front  row  can  distribute 
them  quickly.  This  procedure  should  be  adopted 
for  all  the  succeeding  tests. 

SYMBOL-DIGIT  TEST 

This  test  is  to  be  explained  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  previous  test.  Preface  your  explanation  by 
saying,  "This  time  we  are  going  to  do  something 
very  much  like  what  we  did  last  time,  only  this  time 
you  are  to  fill  in  the  numbers  instead  of  the  signs. 
Here  at  the  top  are  nine  circles, "  continuing  as  with 
the  last  test  only  somewhat  more  briefly  and  rap- 
idly. For  the  younger  children  illustrate  on  the 
board  as  before. 

Have  the  test  papers  distributed  and  give  the 
usual  signal  for  starting.  The  time  limit  is  five 
minutes.  At  the  signal  for  stopping,  have  the  chil- 
dren turn  over  their  blanks  and  write  their  name, 
age  and  grade.  The  papers  are  to  be  collected  as 
before. 

WORD  BUILDING  TEST 

The  instructions  are  as  follows: —  "This  time 
when  you  turn  over  your  papers  you  will  see  at  the 


88  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

top  six  letters,  and  I  want  to  see  who  can  make  the 
most  words  with  those  six  letters.  Suppose  the  six 
letters  were  'a,  c,  o,  b,  m,  t.'  "  Write  these  on  the 
board  and  have  several  children  in  the  class  give 
suitable  words,  correcting  them  and  explaining  any 
mistakes,  if  such  are  made.  Write  some  of  these 
sample  words  on  the  board.  If  a  word  with  the 
same  letter  used  twice  is  given,  use  this  as  an  illus- 
tration of  what  is  not  allowed.  If  such  a  word  is 
not  given,  write  "boot"  on  the  board,  and  ask  them 
whether  this  will  do.  Explain  why  it  is  not  cor- 
rect. Finally  erase  the  letters  on  the  board  telling 
the  class  that  these  are  not  the  letters  they  will  find 
on  the  sheets,  but  that  other  letters  will  be  found 
there. 

Distribute  the  test  sheets.  The  time  limit  is  five 
minutes.  At  the  end  of  this  time,  stop  the  children 
and  have  them  turn  over  the  papers  and  write  their 
names,  etc.,  as  before. 

OPPOSITES  TEST 

The  instructions  are  as  follows: —  "This  time 
when  you  turn  over  your  papers,  you  will  find  a  lot 
of  words  printed  down  one  side  with  a  blank  space 
for  you  to  write  something  in  beside  each  word. 
You  are  to  write  in  the  opposite  of  each  word.  Now 
suppose  you  saw  these  words,"  writing  on  the 
blackboard : 


GIVING  THE  TESTS 


long 
up 

soft    • 
north 


"What  is  the  opposite  of  long?  If  a  thing  isn't 
long,  what  is  it?"  Having  received  the  correct  an- 
swer from  the  class,  write  it  on  the  board,  and  pro- 
ceed with  the  other  words.  Instruct  the  class  fur- 
ther, "If  you  cannot  think  of  a  word,  don't  sit  think- 
ing and  doing  nothing.  Just  go  on  to  the  next 
word.  See  how  many  you  can  write  down.  If  you 
have  time,  you  can  go  back  and  fill  in  the  words  you 
could  not  think  of  at  first." 

Have  the  papers  distributed  face  down,  caution- 
ing against  not  turning  them  over  until  the  signal, 
because  this  is  a  one-minute  test.  When  all  are 
ready,  give  the  signal  to  begin  and  stop  them  after 
one  minute.  Be  sure  to  watch  the  time  carefully. 
Then  turn  over  the  papers  and  write  their  names, 
etc.,  as  before. 

CANCELLATION  TEST 

The  instructions  are  as  follows: —  "This  time 
when  you  turn  over  your  papers,  you  will  find  a  lot 
of  letters  printed  on  your  paper,  all  muddled  up. 
Now  all  that  you  have  to  do,  is  to  cross  out  all  the 
A's."  Write  on  the  board  "BKALTAMG"  or 
any  other  series  of  capital  letters.  "Would  you 


90  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

cross  out  this  one!"  pointing  to  the  B.  "No. 
Would  you -cross  out  the  next?  No,  because  it  is  a 
K  and  not  an  A.  Would  you  cross  out  the  next? 
Yes.  Just  put  a  line  through  it  like  this  A.  Just 
put  a  line  through  it  because  that  is  the  quickest  way 
to  cross  it  out.  I  am  only  going  to  give  you  one 
minute,  so  you  must  work  as  hard  as  you  can  to  see 
who  can  cross  out  the  most." 

Have  the  papers  distributed  and  give  the  signals 
for  starting  and  stopping  as  before.  Have  them 
turn  over  their  papers  and  write  their  names,  etc., 
as  before. 

THE  LANGUAGE  SCALES  AND  ARITHMETIC  TESTS 

For  full  directions  for  giving  these  tests  the 
reader  must  be  referred  to  Trabue's  book,17  and  to 
the  manual  of  instructions  issued  by  Courtis  and 
supplied  with  the  tests. 

17  Trabue,  M.  R.,  "Completion  Test  Language  Scales,"  Teach- 
ers' College  Contributions  to  Education,  No.  77  New  York  (1916). 


[CHAPTER  VIII 
SCORING  THE  TESTS 

THIS  chapter  will  give  as  detailed  instructions  as 
possible  for  scoring  the  tests. 

ROTE  MEMORY  TEST 

A  credit  of  two  is  allowed  for  each  correct  word 
in  its  correct  position ;  a  credit  of  one  for  a  correct 
word  not  in  the  right  position.  There  are  33  words. 
The  maximum  score  is,  therefore,  66.  No  credit  is 
deducted  for  misspelled  words.  This  is  not  a  spell- 
ing test,  but  a  memory  test,  and  a  child  is  not  to  be 
penalized,  because  of  inability  to  spell  the  words 
correctly.  Furthermore,  since  there  is  always  a  pos- 
sibility of  misunderstanding  the  pronunciation  of 
the  examiner,  any  word  that  resembles  in  sound  the 
correct  word  is  given  credit.  Samples  of  such  mis- 
understandings for  which  credit  has  been  allowed 
are  as  follows : —  pink  for  ink,  lamb  for  lamp,  deck 
for  desk,  match  for  mat,  cut  for  cup,  mill  for  milk, 
cart  for  card  and  so  on.  These  are  merely  samples 
to  show  more  clearly  the  method  of  scoring.  There 
are  many  other  possibilities,  but  it  would  be  useless 

91 


92  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

to  list  them  all  here.  The  examiner  must  keep  con- 
stantly in  mind  that  he  is  giving  a  memory  test  and 
that  it  is  the  sole  object  of  the  test  to  test  the  mem- 
ory of  the  child  and  nothing  else. 

The  correction  of  a  great  many  papers  can  be 
facilitated,  if  several  are  correcting  them,  by  having 
one  individual  read  the  correct  list  over  and  over 
again  while  the  others  do  the  scoring  on  the  papers. 

DIGIT-SYMBOL  TEST 

The  number  of  blanks  filled  in  correctly  per  min- 
ute is  the  score  on  this  test.  For  example,  if  a  child 
fills  in  61  blanks  correctly  his  score  will  be  12.2,  i.  e., 
61  divided  by  5.  There  are  in  all  100  blanks  to  be 
filled  in  and  these  are  arranged  in  twenty  lines. 
Where  there  are  no  errors,  it  is  easiest  to  count  the 
number  of  lines  correct  and  this  number  will  be  the 
score,  because  the  time  for  the  test  is  five  minutes 
and  there  are  five  blanks  on  each  line  (or  rather 
half  line,  as  the  test  sheet  has  two  columns).  After 
a  little  practice  the  calculation  of  the  score  is  very 
simple  and  may  be  rapidly  performed.  The  actual 
correction  of  the  test  blanks  is  somewhat  tedious. 
This  again  becomes  easier  with  practice.  Some 
workers  find  the  task  simplified  by  having  beside 
them  a  correct  test  sheet  for  reference. 

Symbols  reversed,  e.  g.,  L  for  "I,  or  symbols  up- 
side down,  e.  g.,  V  for  A ,  are  called  errors.  Sym- 


SCORING  THE  TESTS  93 

bols  not  formed  absolutely  perfect,  owing  to  haste 
in  writing,  are  not  considered  errors.  Further- 
more, if  the  child  fills  in  the  blanks  in  the  reverse 
order,  i.  e.,  writing  from  right  to  left  instead  of 
from  left  to  right,  we  have  not  considered  this  an 
error.  If  such  a  procedure  had  been  considered 
wrong,  the  subject  would  get  practically  no  score  for 
such  a  performance. 

If  a  child  finishes  before  the  time  limit,  his  time 
will  be  marked  on  the  paper,  if  the  examiner  has 
followed  our  instructions.  In  such  a  case  the  num- 
ber of  correct  blanks  is  divided  by  the  time  actually 
taken  by  the  child,  instead  of  by  five.  In  this  way 
it  is  possible  to  get  scores  above  40,  and  examples  of 
such  will  be  found  on  our  tables  of  percentiles. 

SYMBOL-DIGIT  TEST 

The  method  of  scoring  is  exactly  the  same  as  in 
the  previous  test.  In  this  test  the  labor  of  correc- 
tion is  much  less.  It  is  most  economical  to  correct 
four  or  five  blanks  at  the  same  time,  with  the  help 
of  a  correct  version.  Eead  over  the  five  digits  of 
the  first  line  of  the  correct  blank  and  then  run  the 
eye  over  the  first  line  of  the  four  or  five  sheets  to 
be  corrected.  The  procedure  can  be  still  further  ac- 
celerated, if  several  individuals  participate  in  the 
correction  of  the  papers.  In  this  case  the  most  eco- 
nomical procedure  would  seem  to  be  for  one  to  read 


94  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

aloud  from  a  correct  version,  while  each  of  the  oth- 
ers correct  four  or  five  test  sheets  simultaneously. 

As  in  the  previous  test,  writing  from  right  to  left 
was  not  considered  an  error. 

Misplacement  of  the  numbers  of  the  first  line  ow- 
ing to  the  defective  printing  of  the  first  asterisk  on 
our  test  sheet  was  not  considered  an  error.  Credit 
was  given  for  any  correct  numbers  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  they  were  misplaced  one  space  to  the  right 
in  this  first  line  of  the  test. 

WORD  BUILDING  TEST 

The  score  on  this  test  is  the  number  of  correct 
words.  Here,  of  course,  attention  must  be  paid  to 
the  spelling  of  words.  Misspelled  words,  even  al- 
though they  fulfill  the  conditions  of  the  test  cannot 
be  allowed.  The  total  number  of  words  for  which 
credit  has  been  allowed  is  59.  Obsolete  and  for- 
eign words  have  not  been  credited.  In  our  list  some 
uncommon  words  will  be  found,  and  it  was  decided 
to  allow  credit  for  these  should  they  appear,  even 
although  the  presumption  is  strong  that  whenever 
they  do  appear  in  a  child's  list,  they  are  in  reality 
misspellings  of  other  words,  since  these  uncommon 
words  are  not  known  to  children  and,  indeed,  to  few 
adults.  The  retention  of  these  words  makes  our 
list  of  possible  words  more  complete,  and  their  oc- 
currence is  not  so  frequent,  as  to  cause  any  impor- 


SCORING  THE  TESTS  95 

TABLE  20 
WORD  BUILDING  TEST — WORDS  CREDITED 


A               E               I 

R 

L 

P 

a                ear             I 

Rae 

lair 

pa 

ail             Earl          Ira 

rail 

lap 

pail 

or 

air            earl           ire 

rale 

lea 

pair 

ale            Eli 

rap 

leap 

pal 

alp            era 

rape 

Lear 

pale 

ape 

Rea 

liar 

paler 

April 

real 

lie 

par 

are 

reap 

Her 

pare 

Ariel 

rial 

lip 

pea 

rile 

peal 

rip 

pear 

ripe 

pearl 

per 

peri 

peril 

pia 

pie 

pier 

pile 

pirl 

plea 

plier 

96  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

tant  difference  in  the  scoring  of  individual  papers. 
Words  such  as  "ra,  la,"  etc.,  have  not  been  in- 
cluded. Table  20  shows  the  list  of  words  allowed 
arranged  alphabetically  under  the  six  letters  used 
in  the  test 

OPPOSITES  TEST 

The  score  for  this  test  is  the  number  of  correct 
opposites.  Just  precisely  what  should  be  called  an 
opposite  is  the  only  difficulty  in  grading  this  test. 
Our  procedure  has  been  an  extremely  lenient  one, 
giving  credit  wherever  a  word  could  by  any  pos- 
sible means  be  considered  an  opposite  of  the  test 
word.  We  give  in  Table  21  a  list  of  all  the  op- 
posites allowed.  This  list  may  not  be  exhaustive, 
but  for  the  use  of  our  norms  we  believe  the  best  pro- 
cedure would  be  to  adhere  fairly  closely  to  this  list. 
It  will  be  noted  that  adverbs  or  nouns  have  not  been 
credited  for  adjectives,  nor  adjectives  for  nouns, 
etc.,  e.g.,  "slowly"  is  not  allowed  as  an  opposite 
of  "quick,"  nor  "peaceful"  of  "war,"  and  so  on. 

CANCELLATION  TEST 

The  number  of  A's  cancelled  is  the  score.  No 
penalty  attaches  to  omissions  or  errors,  i.  e.,  cross- 
ing out  the  wrong  letter.  These  latter  have  been 
considered  sufficiently  penalized  by  the  amount  of 
time  wasted  in  crossing  out  the  wrong  letter. 


SCORING  THE  TESTS 

TABLE  21 
OPPOSITES  TEST— WORDS  CREDITED 


97 


Test  Word 


Words  Credited 


Good  bad,  poor,  rotten 

Outside         inner,  inside,  within 

Quick  slow 

Tall  little,  low,  short,  small,  tiny 

Big  little,  small 

Loud  faint,  gentle,  low,  noiseless,  quiet,  silent,  soft, 

still,  subdued,  weak 

White  black,  dirty 

Light  dark,  darkness,  dim,  heavy,  night 

Happy  cross,  discontented,  disconsolate,  downhearted, 
dreary,  gloomy,  glum,  lonely,  melancholy,  mis- 
erable, mournful,  sad,  sorrowful,  sorry,  unhappy, 
unfortunate,  wretched 

False  all  right,  fair,  faithful,  frank,  friendly,  genuine, 

good,  honest,  loyal,  natural,  original,  real,  right, 
true,  truthful,  valid 

Like  despise,  different,  dislike,  dissimilar,  hate,  odd, 

opposite,  unlike 

Rich  impoverished,  poor 

Sick  healthy,  well 

Glad  angry,  gloomy,  mad,  melancholy,  sad,  sorrowful, 

sorry,  sulky,  unhappy 

Thin  fat,  fleshy,  plump,  stout,  thick 

Empty         filled,  full 

War  peace 

Many  few,  little,  one 

Above  below,  beneath,  down,  down  below,  under, 

underneath 

Friend          enemy,  foe,  stranger 


98  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

EDUCATIONAL  TESTS 

TRABUE  COMPLETION  TEST 

For  the  method  of  scoring  and  the  alternatives  al- 
lowed for  each  blank  space  the  reader  must  be  re- 
ferred to  Trabue's  book,  because  this  material  is 
too  lengthy  to  include  here. 

COURTIS  ARITHMETIC  TESTS 

The  reader  must  again  be  referred  to  the  man- 
ual of  instructions  supplied  with  the  tests. 


CHAPTER  IX 
EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS 

AFTER  all  the  test  blanks  have  been  scored,  it  is 
well  to  record  the  results  for  each  child  on  some 
form  of  record  card.  A  copy  of  the  record  card 
used  by  us  appears  below: — 

Psychological  Clinic,  THE  PINTNER 

The  Ohio  State  University  SURVEY  TESTS 

Name  Grade       Age 


SCORE 

PERCEN- 
TILE 

Rote  Memory 

Digit-Symbol- 

Symbol-Digit.  

Word-Building 

Opposites 

Cancellation 

Median 

• 

It  will  be  noted  that  three  lines  have  been  left 
vacant  for  the  inclusion  of  any  other  additional 


99 


100  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

tests  that  might  be  given.  In  the  vertical  column 
headed  * l  score, "  the  scores  for  the  various  tests  are 
recorded.  These  are  copied  from  the  test  blanks, 
since  in  grading  the  test  blanks,  it  is  easiest  to  jot 
down  the  score  on  the  blank  at  the  time  of  scoring, 
leaving  the  filling  in  of  the  record  cards  after  the 
scoring  of  all  the  test  sheets  has  been  completed. 
In  the  vertical  column  headed  ' '  percentile ' '  the  per- 
centile  value  for  each  score  is  recorded.  These  per- 
centile values  are  obtained  from  Tables  22  to  27  in- 
clusive, which  give  the  percentiles  for  each  age  for 
each  test.  In  the  recording  of  these  percentiles  it 
is  not  profitable  to  work  out  the  actual  interpola- 
tion. Inspection  is  sufficient. 

In  actual  practice  it  is  generally  most  convenient 
to  record  all  the  percentiles  for  one  test  for  a  whole 
grade  at  a  time,  or  for  a  whole  school  at  a  time. 
This  procedure  avoids  the  necessity  for  reference 
from  one  table  to  another  in  succession.  Begin  with 
the  Kote  Memory  Test  and  record  all  the  percen- 
tiles for  a  grade,  or  a  school,  then  proceed  with  the 
Digit-Symbol  Test,  and  so  on. 

To  find  the  appropriate  percentile  for  a  score,  first 
note  the  age  of  the  child,  find  the  age  on  the  per- 
centile table  and  run  down  the  column  until  a  value 
near  the  score  is  found.  Note  that  each  child  is 
compared  with  other  children  of  the  same  age  re- 
gardless of  his  school  grade.  In  most  cases  the 


EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS^  '   v 


TABLE  22 
ROTE  MEMORY  TEST — NORMS 


Age  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  Ad. 

Percentile 

100  34  39  49  56  60  61  66  64  62  66  59  64 

90  18  29  36  41  45  48  50  52  54  53  52  62 

80  12  25  32  38  42  45  47  49  51  49  50  58 

70  6  23  29  35  40  42  45  47  49  47  47  57 

60  4  20  27  33  37  40  43  45  45  45  47  56 

50  3  18  25  31  34  38  41  43  44  43  45  56 

40  2  14  22  28  32  36  39  40  42  41  42  55 

30  2  11  18  26  30  33  36  38  40  40  41  51 

20  0   7  14  23  27  31  34  35  38  37  38  50 

10  0   3  7  18  21  27  29  32  35  32  36  46 

0  0   0  0  1  0  1  9  14  14  25  28  37 


THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 


TABLE  23 
DIGIT-SYMBOL  TEST — NORMS 


Age  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  Ad. 

Percentile 

100  14  20  25  25  26  33  34  40  38  39  40  50 

90  4  11  13  17  20  22  25  29  30  32  33  39 

80  0  9  11  15  18  20  23  26  28  29  31  37 

70  0  8  10  14  17  19  21  24  27  27  28  34 

60  0  6  9  12  16  18  20  23  25  26  26  32 

50  0  4  7  11  14  16  18  21  24  25  25  30 

40  0  1  6  10  13  15  17  20  22  23  24  29 

30  0  0  3  8  11  13  15  18  20  21  22  28 

20  0  0  0.16  9  11  13  16  18  20  20  27 

10  0  0  0  0.8  4  8  10  13  15  16  16  25 

000000000000  20 


EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS  103 


TABLE  24 
SYMBOL-DIGIT  TEST — NORMS 


Age  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  Ad. 

Percentile 

100  13  19  20  26  29  34  38  40  45  39  41  53 

90  3  9  13  18  21  24  27  30  32  32  33  40 

80  0  7  11  16  19  21  23  27  29  29  29  38 

70  0  6  9  14  17  19  21  24  27  27  28  35 

60  0  5  8  12  15  18  19  23  25  25  26  33 

50  0  3  6  11  14  16  18  21  23  24  23  31 

40  0  1  5  9  12  15  16  20  21  22  22  29 

30  0  0  3  8  11  13  15  18  21  21  21  28 

20  0  0  0  5  8  11  12  17  18  19  16  26 

10  0  0  0  1  5  8  9  14  14  16  12  23 

000000000000  14 


104  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 


TABLE  25 
WORD  BUILDING  TEST — NORMS 


Age  6      7      8      9      10     11     12  .13     14     15     16  Ad, 

Percentile 

100  6     13     11     15    20    20    27    30    29     26    25  35 

90  2      5      7      9     10    13     14     16     16     17     18  25 

80  1      3      57      9     11     12     13     14     15     14  23 

70  1      3      4      6      7      9     10     12     12    13     13  21 

60  0      2      3      5      6      8      9     11     11     12     12  19 

50  0      1      3      4      5      6      8      9     10    11     11  18 

40  012346789     10      9  18 

30  00134567789  17 

20  00123345677  16 

10  00011223444  14 

000000000000  11 


EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS  105 


TABLE  26 

OPPOSITES  TEST — NORMS 


Age  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  Ad, 

Percentile 

100  5  19  17  20  20  20  20  20  20  20  20  20 

90  1  6  9  11  15  15  17  19  19  19  20  20 

80  0  5  7  9  12  13  16  17  18  18  19  -20 

70  0  4  6  8  11  12  14  16  17  16  17  20 

60  0  2  5  8  9  11  13  15  16  16  16  20 

50  0  2  4  7  8  10  12  14  15  15  15  20 

40  0  1  3  6  7  9  10  13  14  14  14  20 

30  0  0  2  5  7  8  9  12  13  13  13  19 

20  0  0  1  3  5  6  8  10  12  12  11  19 

10  0  0  0  1  2  4  7  7  10  9  10  18 

000000000002  13 


106  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 


TABLE  27 
CANCELLATION  TEST — NORMS 


Age  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  Ad. 

Percentile 

100  73  78  76  97  86  86  92  98  100  99  97  89 

90  27  37  39  43  49  56  64  70  73  76  77  78 

80  23  31  35  38  45  48  59  62  65  68  71  69 

70  20  28  32  35  40  44  53  57  61  63  67  66 

60  18  26  29  32  37  41  49  54  57  61  61  64 

50  16  25  28  31  35  39  45  50  53  56  59  61 

40  14  22  26  29  33  36  41  48  50  53  56  59 

30  13  19  24  27  31  34  38  45  48  49  51  53 

20  10  17  21  24  29  32  35  40  44  46  49  50 

10  0  12  18  21  26  29  30  35  37  41  46  46 

000000000  13  27  0  28 


EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS  107 

actual  score  will  not  correspond  to  any  of  the  tabu- 
lated percentile  scores  but  will  lie  somewhere  be- 
tween two  of  them.  Eun  the  eye  over  to  the  first 
vertical  column  on  the  left  of  the  table  to  find  the 
appropriate  percentile.  Estimate  the  distance  be- 
tween these  two  scores  in  terms  of  ten  units  and 
then  record  the  result.  For  example,  a  nine-year- 
old  child  scoring  34  on  the  Eote  Memory  Test  has 
a  score  lying  between  the  scores  of  33  and  35  on  the 
table,  i.  e.,  between  the  60  and  70  percentiles,  and  will 
therefore  be  given  a  percentile  grade  of  65,  and 
this  is  the  grade  to  record  on  his  card.  Again  a 
nine-year-old  scoring  29  on  the  same  test  will  be 
given  a  percentile  grade  of  43  or  44,  since  his  score 
of  29  lies  between  28,  or  the  40  percentile,  and  31,  or 
the  50  percentile,  for  nine-year-olds.  When  the 
scores  for  several  contiguous  percentiles  are  the 
same,  choose  for  the  percentile  to  be  recorded  the 
middle  percentile  of  those  for  which  the  scores  are 
the  same.  For  example,  on  Table  23,  Digit-Symbol 
Test,  0  is  the  score  for  six-year-olds  for  all  percen- 
tiles from  0  to  80.  A  six-year-old  scoring  0  is, 
therefore,  given  a  percentile  of  40,  i.  e.,  the  middle 
percentile  value  between  the  0  and  80  percentiles. 
A  seven-year-old  scoring  0  on  the  same  test  is  given 
a  percentile  of  15,  i.  e.,  midway  between  the  0  and 
30  percentiles. 


108  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

We  give  below  a  sample  record: — 

Name,  Viola  G.               Grade  3A.  Age  8. 

Score  Percentile 

Rote  Memory 32  80 

Digit-Symbol 11.6  83 

Symbol-Digit 11.6  83 

Word  Building 1  25 

Opposites 6  70 

Cancellation 44  92 

Median 81.5 

This  child  is  eight  years  old  and,  therefore,  we 
find  the  percentiles  in  the  eight  year  column  on  each 
of  the  tables  of  percentiles.  A  score  of  32  in  the 
Rote  Memory  Test  is  equal  to  a  percentile  grade  of 
80 ;  a  score  of  11.6  in  the  Digit-Symbol  Test  is  equal 
to  a  percentile  grade  of  83,  and  so  on  for  the  other 
tests.  The  child 's  index  of  mentality  is  shown  by 
the  median  of  the  six  percentiles.  The  median  or 
middle  value  lies  between  the  third  and  fourth  value, 
because  there  are  six  values.  The  six  values  ar- 
ranged in  order  of  merit  are  25,  70,  80,  83,  83,  92. 
The  median  lies  between  the  third  and  fourth,  that 
is,  between  80  and  83,  i.  e.,  81.5.  The  calculation 
of  the  median  is  very  simple.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
write  down  the  values  in  order  of  merit.  It  is 
merely  necessary  to  count  up  to  the  third  value,  then 
find  the  fourth  and  write  down  the  interpolation  be- 
tween these  two.  It  is  well  after  this  has  been  'done 
to  glance  at  the  fifth  and  sixth  values  to  see  that  no 


EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS  109 

error  has  been  made  in  counting  up  from  the  lowest 
percentile. 

After  the  median  percentiles  or  mental  indices  for 
all  the  children  have  been  found,  it  is  then  possible 
to  find  the  median  percentile  or  mental  index  for  the 
class,  for  the  grade  and  for  the  entire  school.  The 
median  percentile  or  mental  index  of  the  class  is,  of 
course,  the  index  of  the  middle  card  after  all  the 
cards  of  the  class  have  been  arranged  in  order  of 
merit  according  to  the  mental  indices  of  the  chil- 
dren. The  median  index  for  the  school  is  similarly 
found  by  ranking  all  the  children  in  the  school,  re- 
gardless of  the  grades  to  which  they  belong. 

The  mental  indices  so  found  may  serve  for  rough 
purposes  of  classification.  A  true  interpretation  of 
these  is  only  possible  when  we  compare  them  with 
the  distribution  of  the  mental  indices  in  general.  In 
other  words  the  percentile  grade  for  any  child  on 
each  test  is  an  accurate  rating  of  that  child 's  ability 
on  each  test,  but  the  median  of  these  percentiles  does 
not  at  once  give  us  an  accurate  rating  of  the  child. 
We  must  compare  the  child's  total  performance 
with  the  total  performances  of  other  children.  To 
do  this  we  have  constructed  Table  28  which  gives  a 
percentile  distribution  of  the  individual  mental  in- 
dices or  median  percentiles  of  the  six  tests.  This  is 
given  for  each  age  and  also  for  the  total  number  of 


110  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

TABLE  28 
PERCENTILE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MENTAL  INDICES 

Age     6      7      8      9      10     11     12     13     14     15  16  Total 

Percentile 

100  97  95  96  97  96  96  99  95  97  96  99  99 

90  93  86  85  85  82  82  83  82  80  80  82  83 

80  87  78  76  79  72  73  75  74  75  72  70  75 

75 71 

70  79  71  70  71  66  68  67  65  67  65  66  69 

60  70  65  65  65  60  60  60  58  60  60  60  61 

50  60  58  57  58  53  52  55  50  53  53  54  55 

40  45  51  50  52  45  46  47  45  50  49  50  49 

30  42  44  45  46  40  39  40  40  40  40  47  40 

25  ..   ..   .,  •  ..  '.. ,  ..  38 

20  37  32  38  36  30  28  30  30  30  35  40  34 

10  35  17  22  23  22  19  20  22  20  23  32  21 

0  35  15   7000050250 

No.  of 

cases  31  235  324  362  352  315  298  338  358  219  88  2920 


EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS  111 

children.  The  distribution  of  the  total  2920  cases 
is  shown  in  the  last  column. 

To  be  absolutely  accurate,  we  should  now  convert 
the  mental  index  of  each  child  into  the  new  percen- 
tile  as  given  on  Table  28.  If  a  nine-year-old  child 
has  a  median  percentile  of  65,  then  his  real  mental 
index  is  60,  because  65  is  equal  to  a  percentile  of  60 
for  nine-year-olds.  Where  extreme  accuracy  is  not 
desired  the  percentiles  for  the  total  group  can  be 
used,  and  their  use  will  make  the  work  easier.  The 
percentiles  for  the  total  group  are  fairly  representa- 
tive for  all  ages  with  the  exception  of  age  six.  In 
most  cases  the  conversion  of  each  individual  child 's 
mental  index  into  the  corrected  percentile  is  not  nec- 
essary. It  is,  however,  desirable  to  convert  the  me- 
dian of  any  group  into  the  corrected  percentile. 
For  example,  when  the  medians  of  the  classes  have 
been  obtained,  it  is  well  to  convert  them  into  the 
corrected  percentile  as  given  in  the  last  column  of 
Table  28.  If  a  class  has  a  median  mental  index 
of  39,  then  this  will  become  27.5,  since  a  median  per- 
centile of  39  is  made  by  about  27.5  per  cent  of  the 
total  group.  The  median  of  a  whole  school  should 
always  be  corrected.  If  a  school  has  a  median  men- 
tal index  of  60,  then  this  becomes  58.5. 

With  the  individual  cases,  it  will  be  rarely  profit- 
able to  undertake  the  correction  in  each  case,  but 
what  we  are  interested  in  doing  is  to  obtain  some 


112  THE  MENTAL  SURVEY 

sort  of  a  classification  according  to  degree  of  in- 
telligence. The  following  scheme  has  been  used  by 
the  writer: — the  upper  10  per  cent  is  called  Very 
Bright,  the  next  15  per  cent  Bright,  the  middle  50 
per  cent  Average,  the  lower  15  per  cent  Backward, 
and  the  lowest  10  per  cent  Dull.  The  limiting  points 
for  these  five  classes  are  taken  from  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  total  number  tested.  This  will  not  give 
us  an  accurate  classification  of  the  six-year-olds  and 
it  is  well  to  exclude  them  from  such  a  classification. 
As  can  be  seen  from  a  study  of  the  table  it  is  not 
absolutely  accurate  for  the  other  ages,  but  suffi- 
ciently so  for  the  purpose  of  a  general  classification 
of  the  children  of  a  school.  The  limiting  points 
are: — 

Very  Bright 84—100 

Bright 72—  83 

Average 39 —  71 

Backward 22—  38 

Dull 0—  21 

This  means  that  all  children  having  a  mental  index 
(uncorrected)  of  84  and  above  are  to  be  called  Very 
Bright;  all  having  indices  between  72  and  83  are 
classified  as  Bright;  all  having  indices  between  39 
and  71  average  (high  average  55  to  71,  low  average 
54  to  39) ;  all  having  indices  between  22  and  38  are 
called  Backward;  and  all  having  indices  below  21 
are  to  be  considered  Dull.  A  distribution  of  the 


EVALUATING  THE  RESULTS  113 

number  and  percentage  of  cases  in  each  of  these 
groups  in  a  school  should  be  made,  as  has  been 
demonstrated  in  Chapter  IV  in  the  discussion  of  the 
schools  tested  by  us. 

To  sum  up  the  procedure  recommended  in  ordi- 
nary cases : — 

1.  Compute  the  mental  index  for  each  child. 

2.  Compute  the  median  index  for  each  class  and 
convert  this  into  the  corrected  index. 

3.  Compute  the  median  index  for  the  school  and 
convert  this  into  the  corrected  index. 

4.  Make  a  distribution  of  the  individual  cases, 
omitting  age   six,   into   the   five-fold  classification 
given  above. 


Anderson,  20,  22. 

Arithmetic  tests,  Courtis,  27,  71, 

78,  90,  98. 
percentiles  for,  72,  73,  74,  75, 

76,  77. 

Binet  scale,  7,  60-63. 
Boylan,  60. 

Cancellation  test,  23,  25,  36,  108. 

giving,  89,  90. 

norms,  106. 

number  of  cases,  38. 

scoring,  96. 
Children's  Home,  46. 
Correlations,  52-61. 
Courtis,  27,  71,   78,  90,  98. 

Digit— symbol   test,    14,   16,   19, 

28,  29,  32,  100,  107,  108. 
giving,  85,  86,  87. 
norms,    102. 
number  of  cases,  38. 
scoring,  92,  93. 

Ebbinghaus,  19. 
Educational  tests,  26,  64-78. 

Feeblemindedness,     surveys     for 
estimating,  4. 

Goddard,  60. 

Grades,  mental  indices  by,  40  et 
seq. 


INDEX 

Index,  calculation  of  mental,  99- 


113. 

distribution  of  mental,  110. 
Intelligence,  estimates  of,  51-63. 

Language  scale,  Trabue,  26,  66, 

68,  69,  90,  98. 
percentiles,  67. 

Mentality,  degrees  of,  46  et  seq., 
112  et  seq. 

Norsworthy,  23. 

Opposites  test,  23,  24,  29,  35, 108. 
giving,  88,  89. 
norms,  105. 
number  of  cases,  38. 
scoring,  96,  97. 

Paterson,  6,  15,  19,  59. 
Percentiles,  29,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35, 

36,  101-106,  110. 
variations  of,  29,  37. 
Pintner,  4,  6,  14,  15,  17,  19,  20, 

23,  26,  46,  59. 

Procedure  in  giving  tests,  81-90. 
Pyle,  13,  14,  15,  17,  19,  20,  22, 

23. 

Eecord,  sample  of  card,  99,  108. 
Eote  memory  test,  13,  28,  30,  31, 

58,  100,  107,   108. 
giving,  83,  84,  85. 


115 


116 


INDEX 


Rote  memory  test,  norms,  101. 
number  of  cases,  38. 
scoring  91,  92. 

Schools,  surveys  of,  40-50. 
Scoring,  methods  of,  .91-98. 
Simpson,  23. 
Spearman,  52,  57,  61. 
Standardization  of  tests,  13-78. 

method  of,  29. 
Surveys,  educational,  5. 

for    estimating    feebleminded- 
ness, 4. 

of  schools,  40-50. 

social,  5. 

Symbol— Digit  test,   17,   18,  28, 
29,  33,  108. 

giving,  87. 


Symbol — Digit  test,  norms,  103. 
number  of  cases,  38. 
scoring,  93,  94. 

Teachers,   estimates  of,   51-56. 

Thorndike,  23. 

Trabue,  26,  66,  68,  90,  98. 

Whipple,  14,  15,  19,  20,  22,  23, 

25. 
Word  building  test,  19,  21,  34,  58, 

108. 

giving,  87,  88. 
norms,  104. 
number  of  cases,  38. 
scoring,  94,  95,  96. 

Yerkes  scale,  7,  56-60. 


(1 


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ISMay'SSWL 
MAY  6  1953 


JAN    41954^0 


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